


The Chains of Destiny

by CrystalHero97



Series: Path of the Dragon - A RWBY Tale [1]
Category: RWBY
Genre: AU, Action/Adventure, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Angst, Blood, Dark, Death, Eventual Relationships, F/F, F/M, Mental Instability, Mystery, Original Character-centric
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-09
Updated: 2018-07-15
Packaged: 2018-08-20 09:48:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 67,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8244884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrystalHero97/pseuds/CrystalHero97
Summary: Let me tell you a story. It all started with a single desire, to keep Remnant safe. Simple, eh? Well, let's just say two people have very differing ideas of how to go about that. We have Ozpin, one of the best Hunters to have ever lived. A damn genius in my books. What did he do to ensure Remnant's safety? Simple, start a school where you teach people to kick the shit out of Grimm. Make an army of those fuckers, slap a name on 'em and boom. You got Hunters and Huntresses. Now on the other hand, ya got science. A sorta chaotic way to stabilise order. That sounds crazy, who coulda been dumb enough to think that Remnant could be saved by the very thing it's covered in; monsters? Well, one guy was. But he's not around anymore, so now we gotta deal with a man hellbent on fucking shit up. And right now, we can't tell if he's better or worse than Salem. But in my opinion, the second you start asking if anyone is like that bitch, then you already got your answer.Anyway, this story began with all that, but four students ended it. Yeah ya got Team RWBY and they saved Remnant 'n all, but the thing is, everybody remembers who they are. And they're meant to. That's the plan.No one was meant to remember Team BLAC.





	1. Dawn of A New Day (+)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vacuo houses many aspiring Hunters and Huntresses of varying degrees of power, and one girl in particular will rock the competition.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's my first time writing so yeah any criticism is appreciated.  
> So, the initial 5 chapters will be kinda short, but after them I'll be increasing the word count.  
> Any chapters that have the (+) signs mean I have edited them or changed something.

_‘Do you believe in destiny?’_

Blinding light, metallic taste, cold metal crawling under skin.

_‘Not sure, why do you ask?’_

Mismatched voices and inaudible arguments, bellowing screams in the distance.

_‘Because I reckon we’re all destined for somethin’.’_

Machines whirring, engines roaring, desperate to conceal the shrieks.

_‘Well, what do you think you’re destined for then?’_

Blurred figure moving, voice breaking through the chaos.

_**“....ust fine. Move him t....ure will deal with it.”** _

_‘I’m not sure, but something tells me you have an important destiny.’_

Light fades, voices become distant, one voice speaks out above all.

**_“...e will be...r vengeance.”_ **

_‘What makes you say that?’_

Click-clack, click-clack, click-clack.

_‘I don’t know.’_

Pain. Burning hot, burrowing under.

_‘But I’m sure you’ll find out soon enough.’_

Darkness. Engulfing. Confusion.

_‘Who knows? Maybe you’ll save the world!’_

Silence.

 

* * *

 

The kingdom of Vacuo is not known for being very welcoming, not even to those born in the harsh environment of the dangerous desert, and the south-western region of the dry kingdom is no exception. The community of Maiden Oasis is a small village hidden beneath a great cliff in the wastes of Vacuo. The cliff itself is seemingly supported by nothing, only six columns of stone keeping the giant slab of earth from crushing the inhabitants of the peaceful town beneath. However dangerous the cliff may or may not be is certainly outweighed by it’s benefits; shelter from the heat and an oasis hidden deep within it's caves. The giant monolith has protected the residents of Maiden Oasis from the burning sun since its founding decades ago. Despite this, it’s not a perfect cover from the inferno above, the townsfolk still get sunlight during the morning hours.

The village used the large stones that surrounded the underbelly of the monstrous rock shielding them as a way to fashion homes for decades now, refining them and improving as the years went on. Large sandstone blocks of housing covered every corner of the small village, none of them stood more than two stories tall at best. If one was to walk around and playfully touch at the housing while walking they would say it felt much like sandpaper. The walls were as white as the hot Vacuo sands outside the shading of the monolith that currently protected these houses, although the interiors were made to be very different. The floors would have carpet or tiles like any other house in Remnant, as would the walls. Looking at a Maiden Oasis house from the inside wouldn't give an individual the idea the entire home was made from sandstone. And deep in the cliff, living very closely to the inner chasm of the giant rock, stood the Water Treatment Plant. The plant filtered all water that was trapped within the cliff to provide water to all the residents. Those who worked in the treatment plant lived very close in case of an emergency, just like the Dawn household, which is home to one of the managers.

And as the sun rose, a certain musician caught a few rays of light while she was attempting to sleep off a jam session from last night. The sunlight does little to wake her, only making her turn over in her sleep to avoid the offending rays.

However, fate is against the purple haired musician, as a loud knock comes from her door to rouse her from her dreams. A brash and authoritative voice echoes through the door. “Lilac, it’s one in the afternoon. Wake up and have some breakfast, your mother made pancakes.” Groaning under her sheets and attempting to rip herself from the wonderful world of sleep, Lilac finally rose from her bed and stretched out her limbs with a yawn. Looking around her cluttered room, full of paper and mostly bottles of Mt. Glenn, Lilac saw the damage done from her night of practise. Her carpeted room was simple enough, a desk for her laptop and amp, a wardrobe next to it full of clothing, and a bed in front of the wardrobe. It was simple, and she liked it this way. Aside from the chaos unleashed everywhere with the snack food wrappers and the large bottles of soft drink strewn around her bed and desk.

Standing up to stare at herself in the mirror just to check herself over, Lilac brushed her purple hair out of her eyes and saw she forgot to take off her gear. Black shorts with chains hanging from the pockets, a shirt with two belts crossed over her small chest, and an open jacket. “Shit.” She groaned once again, looking down to stare at herself angrily. “I need to stop using exhaustion as a method of sleep.” Rolling her eyes at her own actions, she quickly did a check on her equipment to assess the damage. Her amp was sitting were it always does, underneath her desk which she used for her laptop. The small computer had its screen open and had a sound mixer open. Leaning against the wall to the left of the laptop was the carry case she used for her guitar, Crossfade, which was thankfully closed.

Closing the lid of her laptop and placing it inside the carry case underneath it, Lilac exited her room into the narrow corridor of her house. Across her own room was the door to the bathroom, and down the corridor a few more metres stopped at a single door leading into the master bedroom. Hazily walking into the kitchen where one of her mothers stood, Cerulean Dawn smiled at her daughter as she sat at the table. The kitchen itself has a simple set up, with the dining room and the lounge room being merged into one, and the front door was very close to the kitchen, just in case there was an emergency early in the morning.

"Good morning, Lilac. Did Scarlet have to wake you up again?" As Lilac was about to respond to her mother, a slender hand gently patted her on the back from behind, and dark red hair appeared above her vision, a large smile and two cyan eyes. Lilac just smiled as best she could through the exhaustion.

"Yep! Lazy lil' shit, if it wasn't for me you'd be in that bed 'til the new Dust Age."

Lilac smiled at her mother and kissed her cheek. "Nah, you wouldn't let me. Who else would offer sweet music for your ears? I'm like a Musical Angel for this house." Scarlet moved around her to sit at the table and lift a butter knife to poke Lilac in the wrist with a smirk. "Music? Is that what you call that noise?" Lilac gently punched her mother on the shoulder as they share a laugh. Cerulean approached her daughter and placed a large stack of pancakes in front of the teen musician. Giving her mother a gentle smile and a quiet thank you, Lilac forced pancakes into her mouth at an alarming rate. Cerulean is used to this kind of mannerism from her daughter, as was Scarlet. "You have the guts of a Beowulf, I swear Li." Lilac attempted a glare towards her red headed mother, but with a mouthful of pancake it merely just made her mother laugh harder.

Scarlet sat back in her chair and raised her arms up in a big stretch. "So, what does little miss punk have planned for today?" Lilac chewed thoughtfully and looked to the clock, it was currently 1:34pm. Looking back to her mother she just shrugs. "I 'unno. Was gunna just mix some music or sleep, really." Scarlet sighed and shook her head, making a tittering sound. Lilac was always like this, not exactly a social kind of girl. An idea sparked in Scarlets head, leaning over to her daughter with a grin. "Ya know, you  _could_ come with me to the Water Treatment Plant? Maybe find out how the water gets purified and all that?" The rocker just giggled and placed another pancake on her plate, which just seemed to offend the redhead. "I'm serious! You've never seen the inside of that Dust-damned cliff your entire life living underneath it, and who knows when you'll get that letter you've been waiting for?"

Lilac stopped chewing for a fraction of a second before resuming eating, but it was enough for Scarlet to notice. The mother sighed and sat back in her chair. "Yeah, I know. You've been waiting for that letter from Beacon. And I totally get that, and you don't wanna be away when it arrives here. But honestly honey, what if it came today? You'd leave before you saw most of this town, or before you and me finally got to hang out for the first time in years. If it wasn't for Beacon you'd probably spend your entire life in your room listening to music, you even did that when you went to Shade Academy." Lilac looked to her mother, seeing the pleading look in her eyes. "C'mon, Lilac. Give me one day with my daughter before she leaves."

The purple haired teen smiled at her mother, more than happy to oblige. "You know what? I always wanted to know what you guys do inside that giant rock with the oasis."

The red haired vixen had never fist pumped as hard as she did that morning.

A few hours of driving and a stop at the local Ice Creamery, which her mother was insistent on, Lilac got to see the vast insides of the Oasis Water Treatment Facility, or just Oasis Water. Walking alongside her mother, who was now wearing a white jacket over her normal purple shirt, Lilac got to see the technological side of surviving off of a hidden oasis, which was hidden deep within the facility. Scarlet told her what each and every machine did as she walked by, and said hello to a few workers as well. Occasionally Scarlet would stop to make a point about the area they were currently in. Although Lilac wasn't _entirely_ interested, she still asked questions about the facility, just to put a smile on her mothers face. Scarlet probably already knew this, but if she did she never allowed it to show. Scarlet was just happy at the aspect of being a tour guide to her own daughter.

As she looked over the railings Lilac could see the deep waters beneath her, stirring constantly in circles around the centre. She felt her mother pat her back as she leaned against the railing to join her. "Pretty cool, eh?" Lilac nodded as she stared deeply into the abyssal waters below her. Scarlet turned to face away from the machines and the oasis, still using the railing as support.

"Now, normally we don't allow visitors in this area, due to the purification process, but I'm a special lil' snowflake and got us in here no problem. Well that, and the fact that no one knows we're here." Lilac laughed at her mother, unsurprised at this information. Lilac was always used to Scarlet being a bit of a deviant, and she loved her for it, as did Cerulean. Scarlet pointed a finger up to the roof of the cave they were currently inside. "See those weird glowing lights? Those are glow worms. We purify the water of their shit, but it's a pain in the ass to remove them. So we just kinda kept them, they look pretty cool as well." Lilac looked up and saw the various colours and shapes of the worms, reminding her of a disco. "Well, those would be sick at a gig, wanna spare a few?" Scarlet laughed with her for a moment, before it faded and her smile was reduced to a frown.

"You know, I'm so happy that we found you."

Lilac was suddenly listening very intently to her mother, but not breaking eye contact from the waters, trying to make it seem like she's not fazed by her words despite the emotional knot in her stomach. "Lilac, I'm gunna be honest with you. The day me and Cerulean went to that Orphanage in the middle of Vacuo, I almost didn't wanna go." Scarlet turned around once more to face the troubled waters, leaning on her elbows. "I wanted to tell Cerulean that I wanted to leave, that I wasn't ready to raise a kid. That I didn't want to fuck up." She turned her head to Lilac, who kept her gaze at the waters. "And I'm so fucking glad I didn't."

"The past ten years of my life have been the absolute best. You're a wonderful girl, Li. And even if I still poke ya every now and then it doesn't mean I suddenly don't love ya. And even if you spend most of your time with your music, I'm glad you're at least passionate enough about something in your life." She turned back to face the waters with her daughter, sadness behind her gaze. "But this whole Beacon thing. The whole being a Huntress, I understand why you wanna do it, and I won't stop you. But it doesn't stop me from getting worried about you." Scarlet closed her eyes tightly as she banged her arm gently against the cold metal holding her weight. "But Dust-damnnit I don't want to bury you, Li. I fucking love you, you're everything I wanted in a daughter and I don't want that to end 'cause of some Beowulf or whatever Grimm." Pushing herself off the railings to face her daughter, Scarlet couldn't read Lilac's look, couldn't identify what she was thinking.

"So I want you to be the best damned Huntress in all of Remnant."

Lilac, finally ripping her gaze from the waters looked to her mother with a shocked look. "You be the best damned Huntress and you slaughter every damn Grimm that crosses your path, 'cause if I have to bury you before you have to bury me then I don't know what me and Cerulean would do." Lilac wasn't shocked because of what her mother was telling her, she was shocked because standing before her was a crying woman. "And don't you dare fucking die on me, Li." 

Reaching out to grab her mother into a tight hug, Lilac and Scarlet stood there for a moment in their arms. Simply enjoying the contact. Scarlet smiled and let out a faint laugh. "You know, I'm glad we got to spend at least one day together before you went off to Beacon." She pulled away to get a better view of Lilac and saw the tears attempting to leave her eyes. Scarlet kissed her cheek before smiling widely. "Be the best damned Huntress that poncy school has ever seen." Lilac broke the embrace to look at her mother with a smile and tears streaming down her face.

"I'll be the best damned Huntress in Remnant, mom. I promise." Scarlet smiled as she wiped away the tears on her daughters face.

"Crim would be proud of ya, Li."

After the heartfelt moment between the two, they left the treatment plant with smiles. Lilac was now back home forking copious amounts of leftover pancakes into her mouth, along with Scarlet helping her in the adventure. Cerulean, already aware of the fact that they'd ask for more anyway, continued pouring the batter into the frying pan with a smile.

Smiling as her daughter devoured the delicious food, a noise came from the front door. Cerulean turned to look and saw a large pile of letters had been dropped through the mail slot. "Scarlet, there's mail. Could you be a dear and grab it, I can't let these burn." While she returned to the frying pan to cook up more pancakes for the family, Scarlet rose from her place at the table and leaned in closely to Lilac so her partner couldn't hear her. "Maybe that fancy shmancy academy finally responded, eh?" She nudged her daughter with an elbow and gave a thumbs up. Lilac gave a forced smile which quickly disappeared when Scarlet went to get the mail.

She had been hoping to get a response from Beacon Academy relatively soon, but she doubted herself. Her mother desperately wanted her to stay away from that kind of life, hunting Grimm and protecting the innocent. Cerulean wanted her to follow in the family's business at the Bakery, but Lilac *needed* to be a Huntress, she needed to protect those who couldn't protect themselves. Scarlet, however, was supportive of her daughter's decision. Granted, she didn't want her baby girl to get hurt, but she was against holding her back from chasing her dreams.

Lilac held her necklace close to her, a skull with headphones engraved into a piece of metal, and rubbed her fingers gently over it.  
  
' _I won't let that happen ever again.'_  
  
The loud noise of Scarlet plopping back down alerted Lilac to the stack of envelopes in her mother's hands. Scarlet casually threw different looking letters to the table, clearly uninterested in them. Scarlet groaned as she threw the fourth letter. "Damn these bills."

However, the last envelope made Scarlet freeze up, her eyes as wide as a Sandworm mouth. Lilac munched on a pancake casually as she tried to decipher what her mother was so shocked about. "Something the matter, mom?" Scarlet merely laughed as she practically threw the letter at Lilac, who barely managed to catch it.  
  
"I told ya they couldn't resist my baby girl!" Scarlet leaned back in her seat as she waited for her daughter to look at the letter in her hands, and Lilac couldn't believe it.   
  
"Professor Ozpin, and Professor Goodwitch. Beacon Academy, Vale."

Lilac looked to Scarlet, who was resting her head on her hands, smiled brightly, while Cerulean looked shocked before smiling at her daughter. "Well? Open it!"

Faster than a Beowulf, Lilac ripped open the envelope and quickly read aloud any word she managed to catch. "Dear Ms. Dawn, your application into.....we receive thousands of....and we are happy to say that you've been accepted into Beacon Academy!"  
  
Lilac's voice gradually developed a higher pitch and grew louder as she read the last sentence aloud. Jumping up and fist pumping the air, Lilac squealed with all her might as Scarlet whooped into the morning, uncaring of who heard them. Grabbing her daughter and pulling her into a strong embrace, Scarlet's laughter died down as she saw Cerulean looking at the two with a small smile.

"I'm going to miss these moments."

The purple teen lifted her head to face her other mom with tears of joy in her eyes. "It won't be forever, mom." Lilac let out a strangled squeak as Scarlet increased the pressure on the hug. "You betcha ass it won't be! Come and visit us, eh?" Lilac laughed and nuzzled her mothers shoulder. "Of course, I love you guys."

After an exhausting amount of pancakes and cheers from the three women, Lilac was left to pack her things in her bedroom. Thankfully she didn't own much else aside from her laptop, amplifier, and of course her guitar, Crossfade. Smiling at the sight of a packed bag and instrument case, a feeling of determination filled her being. She was finally accepted into Beacon, the academy that will help her get stronger, faster, and deadlier. Holding her necklace close to her, she stared out into her window.   
  
A few hours had passed since the big celebration, and already the sun had hidden behind the cover of the cliff Maiden Oasis hid behind. The darkness of the shade the town was given filled her with a strange feeling of sorrow. Looking down at her little skull and headphones she sighed. "I'm gunna miss this place."  
  
"It's not going anywhere, you know."

Startled out of her thoughts, she looked to her bedroom door to see her mother Cerulean, leaning against the door frame. Her bright blue hair and amber eyes staring deep within Lilac's own bright pink pair. Cerulean looked out the window to the darkened town under the rock and smiled slightly. "You know, when me and your mother found you in that orphanage all those years ago, we didn't expect that we picked up an aspiring Huntress." The musician frowned slightly, opening her mouth to speak up and defend herself, but Cerulean stopped her. "And I couldn't be any more proud of you." The mother moved forward into the room and look around, seeing the room bare for the first time since Lilac moved in, when she was only seven years old. She sat down on her daughters bed and laughed as she looked into the corner where her guitar case sat, Crossfade sitting inside.  
  
"I remember when your bed was over there, and Scarlet thought it was a good idea to give you a Nevermore plush toy. I told her that it'd scare you too much to sleep." She turned to look her shocked daughter directly in the eyes, Lilac could swear she saw a hint of sadness. "But it never did. You weren't scared at all, in fact you couldn't sleep without it." Cerulean leaned back slightly and stared at the ceiling above her, a small light bulb and fan above her, slowly rotating. 

"And shortly after what happened to Crimson-" Lilac flinched visibly at the mention of the name, but never interrupted her mother. "-I honestly thought that would do it, that the Grimm finally managed to get you to fear them. But, if anything..." Cerulean stood up and stared at her daughter, who now had tears streaking down her face. "...it made your conviction stronger. You  _needed_ to not fear them, you needed to beat their game. When that happened, you needed to become a Huntress."

The purple haired punk rushed towards her mother and threw her arms around her waist, burying her face in her bosom. Cerulean sat back on the bed and softly stroked her daughters hair and whispered into her hair, knowing her daughter could hear her over the sobs.

"And I couldn't be more proud of you, my little flower."

 They stayed like that for what seemed like ages, rocking back and forward as the mother soothed her daughters sorrow. Lilac finally stood up and brushed her hair away, still looking saddened. "I'm going to miss you guys." Cerulean laughed a little as she kissed Lilac on the cheek. "As I said, we're not going anywhere, flower." Lilac smiled as her mother walked to leave the room, and Lilac to her thoughts. Before she left the room, her mother turned to her with a smile and a knowing look.  
  
"You and I both know that Crimson would be proud of you."

Lilac was holding the necklace close to her chest as she nodded to her mother. "I know he would be." Cerulean left the room as Lilac looked to the empty chair next to her desk she used to work on her music. She will miss her family, and she could visit anytime she desired, but there was always someone she wished she could visit again. She looked out to the town and sighed, memories of Sandworms filling her thoughts.  
  
' _I miss you, Crim.'_

* * *

 

A few hours later, the Dawn family made the trip to the Transport hub of Vacuo, where she would depart to go to Beacon Academy.

"Have you packed toiletries? Snacks? Money? What about ya undies?"

"Scarlet, don't embarrass her, of course she packed her underwear. I helped her."

"Neither of you are helping me!"

Lilac was blushing brightly in the line to the transport shuttle that would take her from Vacuo to Vale, where she could begin her training to become a Huntress. Tagging along behind her by a handle was her amplifier case, and in the other hand was the carry case for her guitar. She was standing in line to hand in her ticket with her mothers, who insisted on coming with her until she boarded. Lilac was too busy hiding her anxiety over the trip in general to really focus on what either of her fussing mothers were saying.

"Cerulean did you remember to give her condoms?"  
"Scarlet, I am almost certain she won't be needing them."  
"But what if- Wait, are you saying she swings the other way or are you saying she won't get laid?"  
"I didn't-"  
"MOMS. STOP."

Lilac, with a blush brighter than the Vacuo sun, leaped between her mothers waving her hands furiously. "Guys, I have everything packed.  _Yes, even condoms_." She threw a glare at Scarlet who only smirked at her daughter. "Good onya, and grab a ripe one will you? At least bring home someone cute for us." Only blushing harder, Lilac tried to kill her redheaded mother with her eyes, which only seemed to make Scarlet laugh harder. Before she could try anything, Cerulean stepped between them and hugged her punk rocker. "Just remember, you can come home at any time you need. And if you need  _anything_ , money, food, clothes, more protection, you can call home okay?" Scarlet threw her arms around the hug and attempted to join in. "Or drugs. Like, don't ask a stranger for drugs." Cerulean broke away to reprimand her partner. "Scarlet I swear-"

"What? This way we know she's doing it safely and besides, it's fun to have a lil' joint every now and then."

"I thought I burnt all your weed, Scarlet."  
  
"Honey, do you know how plants work?"  
  
"MOMS. PLEASE."  
  
Both the parents looked at their daughter, who was standing by the ticket attendant waiting on her. "I need to leave now, c'mon." The purple haired girl held out her arms for one final hug, and with a smile on their faces the mothers watched as their little flower climbed aboard the transporter and was taken to the air. The two continued to wave until the little black dot in the distance flew over the horizon.

Scarlet looked side to side before leaning in to Cerulean and whispering. "Soooo, you're not gunna try and find my weed, right?"

* * *

 Lilac Dawn was expecting many things to happen when she received her letter of acceptance into Beacon Academy. She expected the shouting cries of joy her mother gave her when she read the letter, and them saying how proud they were of their daughter. And of course she expected the trip from Vacuo to Vale would be a long and strenuous one, mostly consisting of her playing Angry Nevermores on her scroll. And above all, Lilac expected that Beacon would change who she is as a person, and as a Huntress.

However, what Lilac did not expect was to be greeted with the sight of an explosion during her first day at the academy of her dreams.

Hopping off the transport shuttle and landing on the pathway, Lilac looked to the direction where she and about four hundred other students saw a Dust-powered explosion from the distance. Brushing away a small strand of purple hair, Lilac stared in confusion at crater that was blown out in the pathway that lead towards the academy. In the epicentre stood two students, one of which she recognized instantly; Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company. Anyone who didn’t recognize the logo or the heiress herself has been living under a rock their entire lives. The other, however, Lilac didn’t recognize. She was a small brunette with red tips in her hair, and her entire outfit seemed to match that theme of red, along with a hood and combat skirt. The heiress also wore a combat skirt, which made Lilac almost giggle at the sight.

_‘Why would someone wear a dress into battle? Makes no sense.’_

Attempting to circumnavigate the disaster zone of the accident, Lilac walked around the two arguing students and looked directly at Beacon Academy for the first time, amazed at the sight before her of the giant castle-like structure. The academy was nothing like what she was shown her entire life, it was hard to show just how much of a beautiful sight it was in photographs and pictures. She was purely mesmerized by the sight of the grand spires.

"Move move move move  _move!_ "

Stumbling to the side after being startled by an unknown person rushing past her, Lilac attempted to balance herself as she caught the sight of a blue haired man with a small brown hat rushing past students towards the amphitheatre of the academy. It took her a few seconds to realize that he was responsible for her sudden loss of balance. She lifted her hand and flipped him the bird and screamed as loudly as she could. "Drop dead, asshole!"

Whether the teen noticed or cared about her outrage, he did not falter in his sprint. She huffed in anger and angrily stomped in the same direction of the man. Luckily for him and his safety, this was her chosen destination anyway. Entering the amphitheatre she took note of how large the academy truly is, only ever seeing it in pictures or photographs. The theatre itself easily holding the thousands of aspiring Hunters and Huntresses, and still had room to spare. Lilac looked around for the blue haired man who knocked her. In her time attempting to single out the offender, she did not notice that now standing up on stage with his cane was Professor Ozpin himself.   
  
So when the professor first spoke into the microphone she had little time to react when her target suddenly appeared next to her, either unaware that she was standing next to him or forgot that he almost knocked her to the ground earlier. As she raised her voice at him, the Professor's words echoed through the theatre, blocking her own words out.

_**"I'll keep this brief."** _

During the Professors loud speech, Lilac was shouting at the teenager before her, trying to get his attention. She reached out with a hand, and before she had time to react, he quickly turns to her with a confused look and smiles. At this distance she notices that he has a tiny scar that crosses his bottom lip, and that his hair was extremely shaggy and unkempt as if he didn't brush. And she could have sworn she spied something _move_ under his hat. He then talks through the loud speech, thankfully Lilac can easily pick up what he's saying through the noise. "Hey! You're the girl I bumped into before, right?" Lilac stops herself before she attempts to respond, knowing that no matter how loud she talks that he wouldn't be able to hear her. Lucky for Lilac, her semblance is helping her pick up the words. To respond to him, she simply nods. His smile gets wider as he grabs her hand and shakes it, readjusting his hat with the other hand. "Sorry about that! The name's Bleu Horizon! What's yours?"  
  
Lilac, despite what she knows will happen, shouts as loud as she can for him to hear. "Lilac Dawn!"

The blue haired boy frowns slightly and leans forward. "Sorry what was that?!"

The punk rocker rolled her eyes and tries again, slightly louder than the last time. "Lilac! Dawn!"

His frown growing slightly, Bleu leans in much further. "Couldn't catch that?!"

Sucking in the largest breath possible, Lilac screams with all her might, unaware that Ozpin had just finished talking only after she screams her name.

_**"Lilac Dawn!"** _

 Blushing brightly and covering her hands over her mouth, Lilac turned to see that the entire theatre had their eyes on her. In the dense crowd she sees a single hand rise up and wave, along with a shout.  
  
"Hi, Lilac! I'm Jaune!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was just to get you used to Lilac, so that's why it's a bit short.
> 
> Anyway if you have anything to say (please, anything helps I've only just started writing ever, this is my first) please comment.


	2. A New Horizon (+)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A certain blue haired Faunus decides to attend a meeting...  
> (+) Reworked on 24/10/2016.

‘ _Do you like stories?’_

Cold, wet. Can’t move. Darkness. Can’t see.

_‘Depends on the story, I guess.’_

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

_‘Well, what if some stories were true? About people?’_

So cold. Painfully cold. Need heat. Cold.

_‘What about legends? Are they true?’_

Prickling pain, metal digging under skin, liquid rushing. Cold.

_‘Legends are just stories that were so cool, people tried to make them even cooler.’_

A voice.

_‘I want people to make stories about me someday.’_

**_“...’ll be safer there. Let m...”_ **

Pressure on chest, heavy. Can’t breathe, so cold.

_‘Why don’t you want to be a legend?’_

Painfully cold, wet. Can’t think. So cold.

_‘I haven’t earned the right to be a legend, my story needs to be good first.’_

**_“...mine, I wis...etter.”_ **

Cold. So cold.

_‘What kind of story do you want it to be before it becomes a legend then?’_

Numb. Pain slowly leaving, relief. Thoughts dying. Vision blurring.

_‘I want to be a Huntress. Not just a good one, but the best.’_

Darkness.

 

* * *

 

Far to the north in the kingdom of Mistral lies the village of Rendain, a small and almost insignificant place to those not interested in what lies inside. It was around midnight in the small town, the scent of rain in the wind for the coming storm the place would have to endure later on during the night. The houses were all lined up along the cobblestone path, each one identical to the last. Down a dark alleyway past a small chain of markets and shops lies The Rusty Nail, the privately owned pub and restaurant. People often came in to forget their troubles with a pint of whatever-is-cheapest, and then proceed to forget the rest of their night. The pubs newest customer however, has a need for something other than alcohol or women.

A hooded figure, concealing his face and dressed in a pair of jeans with a white shirt beneath the hoodie made his way to the seedy establishment. Attached to his back by a hook around his neck was what appeared to be a large, bulky boomerang that was covered up by a cloth.

Looking to the left and right down the alleyway before entering, the mysterious figure pushed open the door to the pub and made his presence known. All eyes turned to the man in the hood as he approached the bar and took his seat. The bartender walked up to the person and attempts to look them in the eye, only for the hood to lower more.

Adjusting the hat on his head, the bartender places a hand in front of the newcomer.

“Are you gunna just sit there or are you ordering something?”

The hooded man doesn’t move an inch, and speaks with a low voice.  
  
“Heard there was a meet up around here? Somethin’ about _animal hunting_?”

The bartender stares at the newcomer for a fraction of a second before looking around to see if anyone was close by. “What was that? A shot of whiskey? I gotcha, pal.” As he leans down to grab a glass from the shelves below he whispers so only the man before him could hear his words.

“To your right, behind the stairs there’s a door. Knock three times, wait and then knock once.”

The man nods before the bartender pours him a single shot of whiskey. Downing it in one and throwing some lien on the counter, the hooded man walks to where he was instructed and found the door the bartender told him. Knocking three times, waiting, then knocking a single time. The door opens slowly and reveals a large group of villagers huddled around a table. A man greets the hooded figure at the door with a devious smile.

“Welcome to the meet up.”

The mysterious figure nods and walks in to be greeted by the group. Directly behind the table hanging on the wall was a large cork board full of pictures of townsfolk, categorized into two different sections.

_‘Confirmed Faunus, Unconfirmed Faunus.’_

A big man stood up from the table to address the group, he was bald and only wore a tank top but was covered head to toe in various tattoos. His voice was strong and deep as he spoke.

“Alright, we all know why we’re here. These fuckin’ dirty animals are invading our town one by one, and no one is tryna do _anything_ about it.”

The newcomer merely sits at the far end of the table and listens to the speech.

“Any one of these Faunus could be bloody White Fang for all we know, are we going to allow these monsters these _terrorists_ to come and bring harm to our families and children?”

**“Fuck no!”  
**

**“No way!**

**“I’ll kill ‘em all!**

**“Drive ‘em outta town!”**

The bald man slams a hand down on the table to silence the group before rubbing his hands together, addressing the board behind him.

“Now, I heard that a few of these dirty animals are gunna group up at Haven Academy next week for some reason. They could be planning an attack on the innocent people of our village! How dare they!”

A murmur of agreement echoes through the room. The man smiles as he turns to the board behind him. “But we won’t let that happen. Whatever those dirty Faunus are thinking of doing, we’re gunna put a stop to it. Next week, we all march into Haven and _beat the fucking crap_ out of any Faunus or Faunus sympathizer we come across, and we let them know that we aren’t gunna fucking take this!” The group lets out a roar as the man stabs a knife through a picture of one of the students of Haven, a blue haired boy with a brown hat.

Through all the shouting and laughing of the group, a small clapping noise fills the air of the room. The bald man turns around to find the hooded figure that just entered the room to be clapping his hands together, a small smile underneath the hood. The man stands up and continues clapping, slightly revealing his emerald eyes. As his clapping gets louder the inhabitants of the room become quieter, confused at the action. After successfully obtaining the attention of everyone in the room he places his hands into the hoodies pockets. He looks the tattooed man straight in the eyes as he raises his voice.

“Well, that’s all fine and fuckin’ dandy and all, but I think you left out a few very big mistakes.”

The bald man smiles and crosses his arms over his chest, smugly looking at the newcomer.

“Oh yeah? And that would be?”

Within a few seconds the figure threw open his hoodie to reveal himself a bit more, and unveiling his two furry wolf ears from under the hood, twitching slightly under his head of blue hair. He smirks as everyone currently in the room looks in shock at the revelation.

“Well, for one the Faunus meeting is a youth group specifically made for younger Faunus to avoid the likes of you dirty fucks, and you’ve also pissed me off.”

Almost everyone in the room, including the bald man, couldn’t speak in shock. A voice from behind the Faunus brings the room back to attention.  
  
“But, there’s no Faunus living around here! We checked!”

The blue haired newcomer laughs lightly and turns his head to address the man.

“I’m not from here, genius. Just heard a rumour that a bunch of racist assholes were planning to attack the academy I study at. C’mon, I _had_ to check.”

The groups demeanour changed drastically, all of them brandishing a weapon of some kind with looks of pure hatred towards the Faunus before them. Turning to face the bald man, who was now wielding what looked like a mace, the student threw his hands behind his head and smiled happily.

“Also? Are you people cavemen or something? Do you really think you could take on an entire school of Hunters in-training with some gardening supplies? I’m surprised you’re not dead yet if you’re _this_ stupid.”

In a roar of rage, the entire room pounced towards the blue haired Faunus with rage in their eyes, who just reached his hand down a little lower from the back of his head to reach the clothed handle of his weapons with a small smile.

_‘And the Nobel Prize is awarded to...’_

It had been roughly ten minutes since the bartender sent in the newcomer, and since then all that could be heard from the room was shotgun blasts and the banging of weapons. The patrons of the pub stare in shock at the door and the raging noises coming out of it, the bartender included.

A few seconds of silence pass after what seemed like an eternity, and a blue haired man walks out of the room with a single cut running down his lower lip, blood dripping down his chin. As he takes his leave he looks to the bartender, who was too busy staring at his ears to notice as he takes the hat off his head, a simple brown cotton cap. He smiles to the bartender as he places it on his head and sits down at the bar.

“Could I get another shot of that whiskey, if ya don’t mind?"

After downing the single shot and thanking the bartender for the excellent service, the hoodie wearing Faunus exits the pub, satisfied with his work, he strolls down the dark alleyway as the first sign of thunder echoes through the darkened skies. Before he is able to exit the alleyway and enter the streets, a voice from behind stops him.

“Nice party to crash, did it at least have cake?”

Smirking as he turned to face the owner of the voice, the Faunus crosses his arms and looks at the familiar figure hiding in the shadows, the streetlight barely missing him.

“I thought you said you would never come back to Mistral, Qrow.”

The legendary scythe wielder slowly exits the cover of the shadows and reveals himself to the streetlight behind the hooded Faunus, finishing the sip of his flask he was in the middle of taking. “What can I say? The place has decent booze. And besides, I’m not here for Mistral, Bleu.”

Bleu looks to his black haired friend inquisitively, unsure of what else Qrow would want besides a refill of his famous flask. “I’m talking about the stunt you just pulled roughly five minutes ago, that was _my_ job Bleu, and you bloody know it was.” The Faunus simply shrugged and took a step towards Qrow. “So what if it was? I got the job done, that’s that.” Bleu turned to leave Qrow and whatever else he had left to complain about, not at all worried about the possible repercussions.

“Those assholes were threatening my classmates, only ‘cause they have weird ears or because they have a tail. I needed to stop them.” Bleu heard Qrow sigh, and footsteps echoes as Qrow walked up next to him as he exited the alleyway into the night, both of them not saying a word as they walked down the street. The first signs of a storm falling onto the pathway around them, making them increase their pace.

“Look, Bleu. I’m not here to reprimand you. You did a damn good job taking action.” The Faunus laughs as he places his hands behind his head once again. “Then why are you here, to reward me Qrow?” Bleu looks to the side to give Qrow a smirk, only to see that the drunken warrior was giving him the most serious look he could muster under the influence. Bleu slowed down as Qrow took a turn into a small apartment building. Looking back at the teen, Qrow motioned for him to follow. As one big clash of thunder roared above, Bleu entered the building in a hurry before rain could ruin his new hat.

Accompanying Qrow up the flights of stairs into the dark building, Bleu was wondering if this was the part where the powerful Hunter turned around and killed him. He wouldn't put it past the Black Reaper. Qrow stopped before a door numbered ‘13’ and pushed the door open. Crossing his arms and standing off to the side of the door, waiting for the wolf Faunus to move. “Someone here wants to meet you, Bleu.”

Giving Qrow a curious glance, Bleu cautiously entered the room. As Qrow closed the door behind him, Bleu was waiting for his semblance to alert him of any incoming threats that might lurk within the room, but highly doubting Qrow would kill him like this. Bleu looked to the corner, where a light was shining and the sound of boiling water was hissing.

“Ah, you have arrived. Wonderful.”

From around the corner where the was a light, and what Bleu assumed was a kitchen, came a tall man dressed in green and walking along with a cane in his hand. “I’ve been keeping an eye on you, Bleu Horizon. You’ve been an extremely active student as of recent.”

Professor Ozpin sat down at a small table located in the center of the room, with a steaming mug of coffee in one hand and a plate of donuts in the other. Waving a hand at the seat directly opposite him, Bleu sat down at the table and continued to stare at Ozpin, as if he was expecting him to explode.

“You might want to get that cut on your lip checked out, by the way. It might scar.” Bleu reached a hand up and gently touched his lip, a slight burn coming from the contact, glancing down to see a slight red drip on his finger. Shrugging and leaning back in the chair, Bleu merely smiles. “I’ll power through it, I’m sure it won’t kill me.” Ozpin rests his chin on his hands as he studies Bleu a bit more before speaking up.

“The donuts are for you by the-“

“Why am I here?”

Ozpin sighed at the forwardness of the impatient boy. “Alright, I’ll keep them for Qrow.”

“I’m being serious.”

“As am I, he loves the strawberry ones for som-“

At the clash of thunder and the strike of lightning, Bleu was suddenly standing straight up and aiming one of his two shotguns at the head of the Professor before him. They locked eye contact for what seemed like forever before Ozpin turned his head to look behind the teenager. “Stand down, Qrow.”

Unsurprising to the Faunus, Bleu turned his head to find Qrow had his sword pointing directly at the back of his head, ready to strike. Lowering his weapon, the drunk moved around Bleu to stand near Ozpin as he addresses the blue haired Faunus once more.

“I’m here to extend an offer to you. Not only did you take on a group of Anti-Faunus and win with nothing but a cut to be reminded of it, but you managed to do it non-lethally. I’m honestly impressed with your actions, Bleu.”

Merging his shotguns by the handle and placing Walkabout back on its clip, Bleu lowered back down onto the chair and placed his hands back to his head and smirked. “Alright, then. So what? Are ya gunna give me like a billion Lien? Or maybe a new girlfriend? What about a nice car?”

“I’m offering you a chance to come to Beacon Academy and train to protect people, which you seem to enjoy.”

The smirk disappears and is replaced with Bleu’s look of sheer surprise.

“Beacon? The big expensive academy in Vale?”

Ozpin nods. “Yes, _my_ big expensive academy. I want you there at the start of the new year coming in three months. You’re very skilled, and the world could always use more skilled Hunters to fight in this war with the Creatures of Grimm.” Bleu leans back in his chair and rests his arms over his chest.

“But I’m 19, aren’t I too old?”

“If you’re willing to risk your life to save another I couldn’t give a damn how old you are.”

Surprised at Ozpin's words, Bleu looked to Qrow as he was drinking from his flask, as if trying to hide himself from the conversation. Bleu looked back to Ozpin and smiled as he leaned in towards the professor.

“Let me get this straight. Not only are you gunna teach me how to kick butt better, or protect people easier, or just become a better fighter in general, but you’ll also _pay_ for it all?”

Ozpin simply nods as Bleu snaps his head to laugh into the skies as loudly as he could, then rising up and holding out a hand to Ozpin, readjusting his hat at the same time.

“When do I start?”

Ozpin merely smiled as he handed Bleu the papers to sign.

That meeting was over three months ago, time has passed since Ozpin spoke to Bleu about attending Beacon Academy. He told the Faunus to arrive in Vale and come directly to him at Beacon Academy as soon as possible. At the current moment, Bleu was in his home packing his possessions for the long trip to Vale. His home was located near Haven Academy, a block down from the student accommodation. It had three separate bedrooms, a big white kitchen that merged with the lounge room, two bathrooms, and a laundry. Despite all of this, Bleu has lived alone for many years now, the pictures on the walls a ghost of his past. His room was pretty simplistic, a massive king sized bed with two nightstands, a wardrobe near the door, a desk with a television and game console sitting below it, and some hanging portraits of people from days gone.

Smiling to himself as he readjusted his hat, Bleu was going through his wardrobe to find more clothes to pack when he heard a voice behind him.

“The place looks like shit, you sure you don’t drink as much as me?”

Smiling as he pulled a shirt out, Bleu walked past Qrow as he placed it within the trunk he was carrying with him to Vale. “If I drank as much as you did Qrow, then I’d be dead. I'm almost positive you don't have a liver anymore.” Walking back to the wardrobe, Bleu noticed Qrow was now staring at a picture on his nightstand near the bed. “I’m never gunna surprise ya with that damned Semblance, am I? Ah...well.” Bleu grabbed a pair of shorts and walked back to his carry case, Qrow now sitting on his bed staring at his door.

“You know; I reckon you’d like my niece. She’s going to Beacon the same way you did, on the Ozpin Express.” Bleu walked back from the wardrobe carrying a second hoodie and stuffing it in his case, paying attention to Qrow’s words as he walked around the room, now staring intently at a painting on the wall. “She’s a bit younger than you, though. But I’m almost certain the amount of sugar she eats will preserve her skin forever, so you have nothing to worry about. Basically everyone is old compared to her.”

As Bleu placed the last of his clothing inside the case he joined Qrow, who was now sitting on the bed, and looked to him blankly as he spoke in a deadpan tone.

“You convinced Ozpin to get me into Beacon, didn’t you?”

Qrow didn't hesitate. “Of course I did, you have great potential but fucking hell, kid. You leave a mark wherever you go. I wouldn’t be surprised if you managed to bump into someone while walking, even with your semblance.” Qrow looked to Bleu with a serious gaze.

“But as I said, you have potential. You could become an amazing Hunter if you were properly trained, and let’s be honest Haven ain’t giving you the training you need.” Bleu nodded thoughtfully before looking to the picture on his nightstand, Qrow also looking towards it. He sighs before reaching over and picking up the frame, placing it in his case. “They’d be proud of you, Bleu. Trust me.” The photograph of Bleu’s family was placed safely inside his carry case with care. Bleu looked to Qrow and reached a hand out, a common courtesy of the young Faunus.

“Thanks, Qrow. For everything.” Qrow smiled and shook hands with the blue haired student. “Nah, kid. Just did my job. Well, actually _you_ did my job for me, but fuck it.” Bleu looked to Qrow and nodded before jumping up and grabbing his carry case.

“So, I suppose you’ll be taking me to Vale?”

Qrow laughed darkly as he shook his flask in front of the Faunus' face. “Are ya nuts, kid? I can’t drive. I’m here to take you to the guy who’ll be flyin’ ya out to Vale. Me flying you out is like holding a knife to your chest.” The two share a laugh before finally exiting the house Bleu had been calling home for the past five years, pictures of a man, woman, a young girl, and a small blue haired child hang on the walls.

After a short walk through Haven, the drunk and the Faunus had finally reached their destination. A small Transport Hub for vehicles travelling cross-continental. Reaching the line for the shuttle that will take Bleu to Vale, he turns to Qrow with a small smile as he readjusts his hat. “Qrow, again, thanks for giving me this chance. I owe you so much.”

Qrow shrugs and pats Bleu on the shoulder.

“Eh, just get me a drink one day and we’re square.” Bleu laughs as he shakes the hand of the drunken warrior. He turns back to face the line, only for Qrow to turn him around to face him once more, a serious look in the Hunters eyes.

“One more thing? I mentioned my niece, Ruby? She’s a good fighter and I love her with all my drunken heart. If you have trouble making friends, Ruby is always up for making new ones. Just a tip.”

Bleu nods and smiles as he joins the line. Looking behind him he waves to Qrow as he boards, and sees that he too is waving. When Bleu sits down in the shuttle and looks out the window, Qrow is already gone.

The trip was a relatively short one, with Mistral being close to Vale. And Bleu was running down the pathway intent on meeting with Ozpin.

Making a mental note to apologize to the person he almost knocked into, Bleu rushes past everyone along the pathway to Beacon Academy. Determined to meet Ozpin as he promised, Bleu hurried ahead of everyone else in an attempt to get to the amphitheatre before Ozpin addressed everyone to talk to him.

Sadly, he couldn’t find the man when he arrived in the theatre early enough, as it seems Ozpin was already beginning his speech.

**_“I’ll keep this brief.”_ **

He was intent on paying attention to whatever it was Ozpin had to say, before he felt something behind him. Quickly spinning around he found a purple haired girl reaching a hand out towards him. He instantly recognized her as the person he almost ran into earlier.

He quickly noticed her large guitar case as well as the one lugging behind her. Her hair was messy, but looked like that was the point. She wore an odd jacket with belts around her shirt as well as a pair of shorts with chains coming out of the pockets.

Attempting to talk to the girl and apologize for before, Bleu shouts through Ozpins speech. "Hey! You're the girl I bumped into before, right?" The girl appears to hesitate before nodding, this was a sign to Bleu that she could hear him. Readjusting his hat and offering a hand, Bleu tries to keep the conversation going.

“Sorry about that! The name’s Bleu Horizon! What’s yours?!”

Bleu sees her mouth move, but could barely catch whatever words were coming out. Frowning, Blue leans forward. “Sorry what was that?!”

He could barely hear her response. _‘Surely if she can hear me then I can hear her?’_

Leaning further closer, Bleu tries to make sense of her words. “Couldn’t catch that?!”

In less than a few seconds, Bleu found that his hearing was robbed from him as the purple haired girl suddenly screamed her name into his ear, forever branding the words into his memory.

**_“Lilac Dawn!”_ **

That was the last thing Bleu heard before falling down onto his back and being knocked out cold by the supersonic shriek.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here is Bleu! I hope you liked him cause he's important.  
> So I noticed that quite a few people read the first chapter and I thank you if you're still reading this, seriously.  
> If you have anything to say about this story in general or how I can improve, please let me know by commenting.  
> Also, my Twitter is @OfficialCH97 so if you wanna tell me something directly there you go.


	3. Rays of Hope (+)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Atlas is a cruel place, run by the social hierarchy and where family meets business. However, sometimes family wants to do something else.  
> (+) Reworked on the 24/10/2016

_'Carmine, what do you think of the Grimm?’_

Movement?

_‘They’re bad, they want to hurt people.’_

Movement under skin.

_‘No, I didn’t ask what they are. I asked what you think of them.’_

What’s under my skin?

‘ _I dunno, I guess they’re scary.’_

Itches. Itches my skin.

_‘I think they’re very interesting. Where do they come from, why are they here, why do they hurt us?’_

Why is it under my skin.

_‘If we found out where they came from we could stop them.’_

Get out.

_‘Carmine, what if we could control the Grimm? Control what they felt? Would we still fight them?’_

Get out of my skin.

_‘Summer, that’s impossible. They just want to kill everything.’_

Movement stopped?

_‘What if we made them not want to kill everything? What if they were scared of us instead of us scared of them?’_

_‘Then they wouldn’t be Grimm.’_

Control? Control the movement?

_‘Maybe we could make them not Grimm one day, Carmine.’_

Control the skin?

_‘Maybe we can make them fear us.’_

Control. Freedom.

_‘I want the Grimm to fear me.’_

Get out.

 

* * *

 

Atlas has a certain social hierarchy that is unspoken of. Everyone has someone in the chain that is higher up than themselves, either through certain connections or simply because they possess more wealth than the rest. But everyone knows the Schnee’s are far above all of them, and they accept this. However, it doesn’t stop them from attempting to climb the social chain to one up their rivals. South of the Schnee Dust Company headquarters lies the Rays of Hope Manor, home to the Rays’ family. The family owns a large chain of ammunition manufacturers known as Rays Munitions, but also a variety of other goods and services. For almost fifteen years the Rays’ did business with the Schnee’s in the making of Dust-based munitions and weaponry. The manor itself is standard; huge, uninviting, and looks more expensive than it really is. The interior is as normal, too many rooms for the people who live there and not nearly enough possessions to fill up every single room.

The head of the family, Sir Cornelius Rays, was currently meeting with Mr. Schnee in his manor to discuss a new hybrid style Dust cartridge in progress, a big leap in Dust value should it prove successful. His wife Jessica was in the kitchen preparing cups of tea and some biscuits for the busy gentlemen in the other room. Standing by the sink washing dishes and awaiting her husband’s command to deliver the plate in the stunningly white kitchen, Jessica frowns as she hears the clink of a plate being moved behind her on the bench. Smiling a little, she turns her head very slightly to address the noise.

“Now, Auburn. I know you’re hungry but those are for your father and Mr. Schnee.”

Auburn Rays, the only child of the family was attempting to steal some of the biscuits being prepared on the plate inside the sparkling white kitchen. With a huff, Auburn slumps down onto the bench of the kitchen as her stomach audibly groans.

“But mom~. I haven’t had anything for hours~.”

“It’s been _one_ hour, Auburn honey.”

Auburn sits up from her position on the bench, brushes her ginger hair past her damaged ear, and stands up so her mother could see her body. “I know why dad has to talk to the Schnee guy, but why do I have to wear this frilly dress?” Auburn does a spin to emphasize her point, displaying her snow white dress and shoes with a look of disgust. “I feel so...constricted wearing this. Can’t I take it off?” Jessica dries off the last plate from the sink and turns to her daughter with a small smile. “Well, you could if you wanted. Father just wanted you to make a good impression on Mr. Schnee. But then father wouldn’t take you to the firing range with Mr. Schnee when he shows off his new Dust rounds if you didn’t look presentable.”

Auburn crossed her arms over her chest and huffs at her mother. “My combat gear would look plenty presentable!” Smiling at her daughter, Jessica reaches over and ruffles her ginger hair. “Well be that as it may, father would prefer you to look the part of the Rays daughter, not some Huntress fighting the Grimm.”

Auburn glared at her mother as she turned around to pour the boiling hot water into the tea cups. “But I _want_ to look like a Huntress, mom! I want to fight the Grimm! I want to help people.” Her mother titters as she finishes making the tea. “That’s not what we want of you, honey. You’re going to be a lady and keep up appearances with your father here in Atlas, not some tough and gruff Huntress activities in Dust-knows where.” Auburn continued to glare at her mother, hoping she felt it instead of saw it. “I want to go to Beacon and be the best Huntress ever! I don’t want to sit around looking ‘ladylike’. I want to get knee deep in Grimm and be a fighter!”

Jessica sighs as she places the teacups on the plate and gives her daughter an angry look. “We’ve discussed this plenty of times, Auburn. You are _not_ going to Beacon, you have an appearance to keep up here in Atlas. Your father and I love you, but we won’t let this happen. You know the Atlesian families, they’d want to see our daughter with us in our home.”

Walking around to look her daughter in the eyes, Jessica laid a hand on the upset teenager.

“Look, we let you train with your weapons and go to Atlas Academy to train because we didn’t want you to feel too constrained. We knew if we stopped you from using your abilities that you would go stir crazy, but we didn’t expect you to want to follow it through as far to go to Beacon. We need you here, in Atlas. Not off somewhere in Vale doing more training.”

Pushing her mother’s hand away, Auburn stomped her foot angrily and leaned in to her mother’s face. “Beacon will train me to be a better fighter, a better Huntress! And I want that, mom. I want to be the best Huntress in all of Remnant!”

“You want to be a Huntress?”

Both women in the kitchen turned to look at the new voice. Standing by the door frame, with a worried looking Cornelius behind him, was Mr. Schnee himself, looking at Auburn thoughtfully. Jessica, quickly realizing her mistake, rushed forward and gave a slight bow to the president. “I’m sorry, sir. I didn’t hear my husband call for the tea.” Mr. Schnee merely waved a hand, his gaze never leaving Auburn. “No need, I decided to leave early to see the new Dust rounds in practise. Ms. Auburn is it? You’d like to be a Huntress?”

Auburn nods and takes a step forward. “I want to fight the Grimm, and I want to protect people who can’t protect themselves.”

“And what of you, can you protect yourself?”

Auburn nods and smiles widely. “Yes sir! I have weapons and I’ve been learning since I was young!”

Cornelius rushes forward to join his wife’s side, worry across his face. “My apologies Mr. Schnee, my daughter is just a little wound up from all this talk of Dust rounds and weaponry and such.”

Once again, Mr. Schnee waves a hand. “Tell me, Ms. Auburn. Would you like to accompany me to the firing range with your father, perhaps a show of skill?”

The little ginger never ran to her room so fast in her life.

The trip to the place where the three would be testing out the new rounds is in a secluded section deep in Atlesian forestry, far away from prying eyes or harm. Mr. Schnee, Mr. Rays, and Auburn arrived in a clearing deep in Atlesian forestry. Snow covered the ground for as far as they could see, with trees surrounding the area in a large circle. In the middle stood a tall tent which viewers would stand under, while a barricade kept the shooter from straying into the field. Exiting the car and walking underneath the small roof set up before hand, they saw ahead of the them were some practice dummies set at various distances. The first one was fifteen metres ahead of them, the next was twenty-five, then thirty-five and so on, up until one hundred and twenty-five metres.

Auburn now stood in her full combat gear, a small leather jacket with a red undershirt, and a simple pair of cargo shorts, which had two very large pockets left open, currently empty. Attached to her hips were two holsters for her revolvers, with the name ‘Huckleberry’ inscribed into the holsters. Looking even more confident than in the silly dress, Auburn was determined to display her skills to Mr. Schnee and prove she could be a Huntress. Turning to a table that was brought along with them, she saw a lot of cases of different coloured ammunition, and next to those were the multi-coloured rounds. These were the experimental ones that Mr. Rays was determined to show off to the SDC president, hybrid rounds that combined the effects of various Dust.

Waving a small hand over the cartridges, Mr. Schnee motioned for Auburn to pick some up. “First, choose one of the solid coloured rounds to demonstrate how well they work, then let us compare with one of Mr. Rays experimental ones. It's always nice to have a control group.”

Nodding with a large smile, Auburn pulled out one of her revolvers and flipped the barrel open, loading it with a blue Dust cartridge. The revolver had a leather grip with small etchings, and the metal along the sides were orange up to the barrel which had a small gap cut into the end of it. Auburn obviously took great care and pride in Huckleberry, it's metal shining under the Atlas sun.

Holding her arm up and lining up the shot, Auburn fired and successfully hit the first target dummy, which was knocked back and had shards of ice digging into it. Firing off a second shot she hit the second target along the first line up, exploding it into small icey shards. A small clap came from the two behind her as she reloaded the barrel with the first experimental round, orange and blue swirling inside it as she loaded it into Huckleberry. Lining up the shot once more, she fired and the round slammed into the second dummy at twenty-five metres. A cloud of dust erupted from the dummy as it was pelted by ice shards, surrounding the ice was small wisps of blue flame. Turning to the gentlemen with a smile, a spin of her revolver, and blowing out the smoke coming from the barrel, Auburn walked closer to the two and placed her revolver back inside its holster.

Mr. Schnee looked very impressed with both Auburn and the product, Cornelius next to him looking very on edge about what the other was thinking. Mr. Schnee directed his attention to the holsters at Auburn’s hips.

“Very nice, Ms Auburn. I see you carry two of your pistols, however. Care to demonstrate how you use them together in a fire fight?”

With a nod, Auburn reaches to pull out her second weapon before a large, very distinct roar came from beyond the trees ahead of them. Pausing slightly and turning to the trees beyond the last target dummy, Auburn saw a big and black creature crawling towards them, growling in their direction. Swallowing her spit, she turns to the two adults who had horror stricken across their faces.

“Beowulfs.”

Mr. Schnee turns to Cornelius with a surprised look, but did not look intimidated. “Mr. Rays I was promised this area was secured from the Grimm, what is the meaning of this?”

A second howl breaks through the air as seven more Beowulf emerge from the forest behind the target dummy. Without a second thought, Mr. Rays turns and runs inside the car behind them. “This area was supposed to be secured! Auburn, get in the car!”

Turning to look and see where his daughter is, Cornelius finds Auburn loading her two revolvers with the red and black Dust rounds, clicking the barrel in. Surprised at her actions, he was once again going to call out before she lifted her pistols and took aim at the Grimm in the distance. Shaking his head, Mr. Rays runs forward to reach out to her. “Honey, it's too dangerous! Turn and run!” Feeling an unknown pressure on his chest, the SDC president was holding back the father of the girl before him with a stretched out arm and a serious look towards Auburn.

“Let’s see what she can do with your rounds, Rays. This might convince me to put them in stock.”

With both of her pistols raised up in front of her, Auburn closes her eyes and takes a very deep breath, exhales slowly and opens her eyes.

One of Auburn's eyes seemed to have a very mild glow of red around it, with a small shape on the inside of the pupil. Within a fraction of a second, the world seems to slow down before her vision. The leaves in the forest moving slowly, the Grimm ahead of her seemed to have started running, but were slowed. She was used to this by now, her semblance was an active one, as her own movement was also slowed down. To anyone viewing from the outside it simply looked like Auburn had fantastic reflexes.

Taking another deep breath and aiming her pistols, as always Auburn notices the marks on the Grimm ahead of her. Round, almost skull-like shapes around the places she was aiming for, showing her where she would hit; directly between their eyes. 

With her Deadeye glowing, she smirks as she pulled her triggers, the world around her suddenly returned to its normal speed as her body moved with speed. Firing four shots from her left and four from her right pistols in rapid succession, Auburn fired a single round into each Beowulf’s head, causing them to fall flat before they could even reach the final target dummy. The effects of the hybrid rounds were obvious, they pierced through the skulls of each Grimm and blazed a hole straight through, designed for raw power output over anything else.

As he watched the scene with interest, Mr. Schnee took note of how impressive the little girls feat of skill was.

_‘That was at least over one hundred and twenty-five metres, she’s skilled.’_

Looking over to the father of the sharpshooting girl, Mr. Schnee saw her father simply staring in shock at what she just accomplished.

_‘She will do nicely for what I have in mind...’_

Auburn spun her revolvers around, emptying the barrels and letting them fall to the ground, and placing them back in their respective holsters. She turns to Mr. Schnee and her shocked father with a wink and a tip of her non-existent hat.

“Like fish in a barrel.”

After calming her father down and reassuring him that she was fine, the three of them got into the limo and rode back. The ride back to the Rays Manor was a slow and quiet one, Auburn simply looking out the window with a smile and wiggle of her legs, happy she got to show off her skills to someone like the president of the SDC. It wasn't often she was able to prove herself to her father and show how much of a competent fighter she truly is. Mr. Schnee finally broke the silence and addressed the father sitting before him.

“Mr. Rays, your daughter is incredibly skilled in combat. And I am very impressed with what I have seen today. She reminds me of my youngest daughter, who is also going to be attending a school for Huntresses. Although against my wishes, I chose not to stop her should she display her skills, and she succeeded. And judging from what I have seen, I believe that Auburn has definitely proved herself as mine did, and I think that Auburn should attend Beacon Academy.”

Auburn was trying to pretend she wasn’t paying attention up until this point, where she squealed with delight and looked to her father with hope, who had an extremely worried look on his face.

“Well, Mr. Schnee, my wife and I wanted to keep Auburn here to keep up appearances with the other families in Atlas, they seem to like you more if you have a little girl in the house.” Mr. Schnee nods his head, familiar with the games Atlas oh so enjoys to play with its upper class. “Although that may be true, she displayed her abilities well and proved that she could be an exceptional Huntress. Tell me, Mr. Rays, what if your daughter came back from Beacon with top of the grade marks? You would have much to talk about with the other families then, wouldn’t you say? That's an awful lot of bragging rights amongst the other houses.”

Mr. Rays nodded and looked contemplative of the situation. Turning to his daughter, who held a look of determination on her face, he hums in thought. "She  _is_ very skilled in combat, and having a daughter for a world renowned Huntress  _would_ be nice leverage."

Mr. Schnee see's his opportunity and takes it. “I’ll tell you what, let’s make a deal. If your daughter can manage to get higher grades than my daughter Weiss, who is also attending Beacon soon, then I shall sign your company up for a fifteen-year contract.”

Mr. Rays almost had a heart attack. “And what about the hybrid rounds?”

For the first time in his visit, Mr. Schnee smiled at the man. “After seeing your daughter display her skills with them, how could I say no to them? What do you say to our little bet, Mr. Rays?”

_‘Maybe now you will work harder like you should, Weiss. If this redhead manages to beat your scores then you'll have no excuse.’_

Mr. Rays frowns slightly as he looks to the man before him. “And what happens if she doesn’t?”

“Well, obviously the contract is off and I won’t do business with you ever again.”

Frowning even more, Mr. Rays looks to his daughter once again, who was nodding and jumping in her seat at an extreme speed. “You have nothing to worry about, Mr. Rays. Your daughter is an exceptional Huntress. I have no doubts she will do great. She managed to hit eight targets at an extraordinary range, her semblance is certainly unique.”

Mr. Rays sighs before extending a hand to the president, a slightly wavering smile on his face.

“You have a deal, sir.”

Six months had passed after the meeting with Mr. Schnee, Auburn was flying aboard a shuttle towards Beacon Academy. Jumping up and down in her seat she stared in awe at the giant marvel of a building just outside her touch. She could see the large groups of students new and old walking towards the amphitheatre where Professor Ozpin would give his speech. Smiling at the sight Auburn could barely contain her excitement.

“Oh my god, I’m going to Beacon! I’m studying at Beacon, I’m gunna train to be a Huntress, I’m gunna fight Grimm, it’s gunna be sick!”

As she scanned the crowds of students she marveled at the absolute size of the crowd that Beacon attracted, smiling as she scanned around and saw many students, ones she will hopefully come to know as friends.

Suddenly saw a small explosion on the pathway to the theatre. Curious, her right eye glowed red as she took a closer look down at the crash site. She sees a small red hooded girl on the ground, and what appeared to be Weiss Schnee herself looking visibly shaken by the explosion. Off to the sides Auburn sees a purple haired girl almost being knocked over by a blue haired boy. Closing her eyes and undoing her Deadeye, she looks down at the pathway and stares in puzzlement.

“Huh, wonder what caused all that to happen.”

When she finally lands, she hurriedly rushes to the amphitheatre, where she can already hear Professor Ozpin starting his speech from the pathway.

“Oh, dust! I can’t be late on my first day!” Rushing faster with her backpack shaking violently, she manages to enter the amphitheatre out of breath and winded, leaning a hand against the large open doors. However, she notices that Professor Ozpin was almost finished with his speech. Stomping a foot down and huffing, Auburn crosses her arms on her chest.

“Dust! I didn’t make it, I’m gunna have to ask around to find out what Ozpin sai-“

**_“Lilac Dawn!”_ **

Stumbling back and throwing her hands to her ears, Auburn turned to see the same blue haired boy from before being screamed at by the same purple haired woman, who was now blushing and covering her mouth. A hand from the crowd lifted up and waved as the blue haired boy stumbled back and fell over, shocked from the sudden scream. With a sigh and a step towards the purple haired girl, Auburn hears her whisper.

“Oh, dust.”

* * *

 

_‘Carmine, where are you going tommorow?’_

Freedom. Have to get out.

_‘I don’t know, my parents said it was important.’_

Hurts. Have to leave.

_‘When will we see each other again?’_

Have to find her. Have to save her.

_‘Summer, I’m not 100% on anything at the moment, but I hope soon.’_

Soon. Have to get out soon.

**_“...ne with all this. I’m bre...ou out.”_ **

Voice? Who? Why?

_‘Carmine, I’ll miss you.’_

**_“...wering the dose, then I’m leaving you to it, kid.”_ **

Vision? Light? Person? Who are you?

**_“By the time the dosage wears off, I’ll be out of here. I hope you find what you’re looking for.”_ **

Wears off? Who are you?

**_“You’ll be free soon, and when you are you’ll break out all kinds of hell in this place.”_ **

Free? I’ll be free? Who are you?

**_“Let’s hope that the chains of destiny will help you, kid.”_ **

Destiny?

**_“Good luck, Carmine.”_ **

_‘I’ll miss you too, Summer.’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a reason Auburn was the only one of the so far chapters to introduce her weapons semblance in such a detailed way, it's all planned out don't worry.  
> Thanks to everyone who reads and leaves a comment, I just want to improve so anything would help out a lot!


	4. Blood of the Covenant (+)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A trapped soul wanders through his own thoughts and the hell forged around him.  
> (+) Reworked on the 24/10/2016

_‘Wake up, Carmine.’_

Jerked awake by the sudden feeling of cold and sickness, Carmine sat up awake in the small bed inside the equally as small room he was resting in with his eyes screwed shut in pain. Grabbing his head and running his hands through his short black hair, he looked around to find that he wasn’t back in his bedroom in Atlas.

_‘The last thing I remember was saying good bye to Summer...’_

Looking around to attempt to decipher where he was, Carmine noticed that there was nothing inside the cold metal box aside from one bed and one table, which had some clothes on top of it in a neat pile, folded up. The walls were riveted together and were mostly made of metal plates, aside from the door which looked to be solid steel with a little hole for viewing inside the room.

_‘Gotta get out and find Summer.’_

Carmine stood up and felt his feet ache at the freezing metal floor as he clutched at the walls to get to the table. Dizzy and feeling sick, he could barely notice when he finally reached the table, his face contorted in confusion and anger. Grabbing his combat gear and after many failed attempts manages to put them on and look down at himself. A red jacket with some sort of skull symbol on it, with a white undershirt, and a pair of black jeans and some white sneakers.

A quick look to the table and he notices a small piece of paper, which he had to hold to his face to read due to his vision.

_‘Unleash hell on this place, kid. What’s inside you is here to help you. - A.’_

Putting the message inside his pocket to decipher later, and after struggling to find the door, Carmine attempts to grab the handle and open it. After one or two attempts, it seemed that it was locked and he couldn’t open it from inside. Balling his hands up into a fist and slamming it into the steel, Carmine looked around for a new possible exit.

_‘You’re strong, Carmine.’_

Spinning around to meet the familiar voice, Carmine was met once again with the empty room. Eyes wide in shock, Carmine attempts to call out for the intruder.

“W-Wh-“

Thrown into a coughing fit from his attempt to talk, Carmine realizes that he probably hasn’t used his voice in a long time, it sounded like he had a blender in his throat when he spoke.

“W-who’s t-there?”

_‘You’re stronger than anyone, Carmine. C’mon! You can do it!’_

He was about to once again question who the voice belonged to until his vision was swarmed with darkness, closing in from around the edges until it completely consumed his line of sight. Carmine tried to move his limbs and flail in panic, but they had a mind of their own. He felt _something_ bend itself around his arms and bend under his fingers grip, it felt strong and cold. He could pick up the sound of bending metal and a loud crashing noise before his vision cleared up, retreating to the edges of his vision hastily.

He was now standing outside his room with the steel door being firmly wedged into the wall directly in front of the doorway, bent out of shape with large claw marks deep inside it. Deciding to not question it in his current state of illness and move on, Carmine looked left and right down the long corridors and saw that every so often there was a door like his, which made it feel more like a prison. He was about to take a step to the right when he felt a foreign weight on his wrists.

Looking down he noticed a new piece of gear that wasn’t on him before he blacked out, a pair of gauntlets with a very thin chain wrapped around it tightly. He raised it to his eyes in an attempt to see it more clearly, but this only caused him to feel even more sick from the concentration.

Shaking his head and resolving to study the thing in more detail later, Carmine hugged the walls as he continued down the right path away from his room.

_‘Where the hell am I? What the hell happened to the door?’_

The walls were made of the same material of his room, the riveted metal plates continuing on forever. They were just as cold out here as they were in his room, but Carmine needed to hold on as he tried to escape whatever hell this place was.

_‘Okay, lets run through what I know. Number one on the list is that my bloody semblance isn’t triggering to help with this damn sick feeling I got, so that probably means my aura is down. Which doesn’t help to explain how I managed to knock a steel door clean off its hinges.’_

He held the wall as he came to a stop so he could catch his breath, his lungs burned with pain at the exertion.

_‘Number two is that note, I remember someone saying they’d help me escape while I was under whatever kind of stuff they pumped into me. But what does it mean when it says “what’s inside wants to help” or whatever?’_

Pounding a hand to his chest to clear up anything, he stumbled forward down the corridor to find another door, this one unlocked as he easily pushed it aside. The corridor continues on, but this time there was no more doors like his one.

_‘And number three, where am I? Where’s Summer? The last thing I remember I was in Atlas talking with her, she was going to Beacon or something. What’s going on?’_

Grunting in pain as he tried to regain his senses, the teenager almost didn’t notice the two people ahead of him running down the corridor. Coming to a stop in front of Carmine, he noticed that they were holding out guns and pointing them at Carmine.

_‘Shit, guards.’_

One of the guards boldly took a step forward, his hand trembling slightly with the gun in his hand.

“S-stand down, S-subject 173.”

_‘What did he call me?’_

The other guard took a step with his partner, although he was clearly more scared than the other.

“Come with us q-quietly, 173. You w-will be put back in c-containment.”

Taking a step back, Carmine didn’t know if he could fight in his current state. He was barely managing to stand as it was.

_‘Shit, there’s no way I can take these guys on like this. If I had any aura left I could flare it, but no cigar.’_

Attempting to look casual, or at least like he worked at the place he was trapped in, Carmine stood straight with great effort and winked at the guards with a pained smile.

“Hey, this is a misunderstanding. The bad guy went the other way.”

Clearly not fooled by his words, the Guards took yet another step to Carmine. He grunted as he went back to lean against the wall. He held a hand to his face and groaned loudly.

_‘Shit, I can’t handle a fight. Not like this.’_

_‘You need to put more faith in yourself, Carmine.’_

Shocked at the voice once again Carmine tried to turn around to greet the owner once again, but before he could even turn his vision was once again swarmed with darkness.

Except what he heard and felt this time was a hundred times worse.

Carmine could feel flesh breaking under his grip, a blood curdling scream from in front of him, gunshots to his right that he could _feel_ bounce off of him. Those things around his wrists, he could feel the chains uncoiling themselves and covering his arms like an exoskeleton.

He felt something enter his mouth and _break_ , a metallic taste entering his throat as he felt himself pull something until a snap was heard, throwing away the offending item and redirecting his attention to what Carmine assumed was the guard.

If he could scream, Carmine would be heard from Vale and back.

He heard the second guard scream in terror as he witnessed whatever it was Carmine was doing to his partner. And worst of all, Carmine heard himself, and it almost broke him to hear it.

**_“Blood. I. Need. Blood!”_ **

He felt the rush of adrenaline when he drank down more of the metallic taste. He heard when he rushed down the corridor, his feet sounding like claws on chalkboard. He could hear the screams of a woman, and then her silence by a whipping sound. Carmine could feel and hear everything, whatever this thing did, this _creature_ did, he could experience it all.

Carmine was glad he couldn’t see anything.

His hand penetrated what felt like a large metal plate, and the creature tore out some wires and cables, behind them the guards were shooting at the back, which Carmine felt the creature just shake it off.

“Stand down or we will have to use excessive force!”

Whether the creature heard them or didn’t care, it didn’t stop in its rampage through the walls of the place that was housing them.

**“Out. Out. Out. Out! Have to get out!”**

Eventually it came to a stop, and Carmine felt as it ripped its way through one last obstruction before he felt the warmth of sunlight touch his skin.

When Carmine had his vision restored, he was already traumatized by the sounds and feelings that were rushed through his system. Holding a hand to his hair and running it through Carmine looked around to see that he was in some kind of open cave, hidden deep within a forest. Behind him was a barricade door slamming shut, coated in blood.

Looking down at himself and sighing, Carmine indeed saw that he was covered in blood.

_‘Fucking hell, I didn’t want to hurt anyone. Whatever this thing is, I have to get rid of it.’_

Stumbling out into the sunlight, Carmine still struggled to get his bearings on the current situation. Shaking his head angrily, he decided to think on it later.

_‘No point thinking about any of this if I can barely stand up.’_

Standing up to look into the sunlight and stumble through the thick forest, Carmine wondered how long it would be until he found civilization. Laughing darkly at himself and shaking his head, he realized that the chances of finding anyone is slim, especially deep in a forest.

 _‘No idea where I am, how I got here, or_ when _I got here. Swell.’_

Lifting his aching head to take in his surroundings, for as far as the eye can see there was nothing but green forestry and bushes. Sighing loudly to himself and lowering his head, he continued his trek forward through the forest.

_‘Look, I’ll just keep walking forward. Who knows? I might find somebody.’_

Carmine directed his thoughts back to Atlas, where he and his family moved to when he was fourteen. He occasionally met up with his friend Summer when they could, and they always had a laugh with each other.

Carmine smiled at one particular memory of him and Summer...

 

* * *

 

_Deep within the Atlesian forests surrounding the ever-growing Schnee Dust Company, Carmine and Summer were playfully laughing as they skated around on a frozen pond they found one day. Summer was doing amazing tricks, she was doing flips and poses and all sorts of amazing things._

_Carmine, on the other hand was falling down a lot and sulking on his frozen butt._

_Summer casually slid up next to him with a big smile and a hand on her hip._

_“C’mon, Carmine. What have I said about falling down?”_

_Looking up to his friend, Carmine huffed once more, a frosty breath leaving his mouth._

_“Summer, what’s the point? You’re just good at this. I’m not.”_

_Frowning at her friend’s words, Summer picked him up forcefully and dusted off the snow on his jacket._

_“When people fall down, they need someone else to pick them back up!.”_

_She looked back into Carmine’s eyes with a smile and a pat on the shoulder._

_“And I’m the person who picks you up!”_

 

* * *

 

_‘What’s that up ahead? Are you looking for that, Carmine?’_

Becoming angry with the voice, Carmine looked up and saw that there was a large stone structure of some kind up ahead of himself. Silently thanking the voice inside his head, he began wandering towards the sight. He felt his aura slowly returning to him, which he was also very thankful for. Shaking his head and attempting to address the voice, Carmine felt stupid for talking to himself.

_‘I don’t care who you are, but right now I need to be alone. Talk to me later.’_

_‘Okay, Carmine.’_

Wondering why on Remnant he was talking with himself, he walked forward and towards the large stone structure, but stopped just behind a bush, shocked at what he saw.

_‘People?’_

Carmine indeed saw ahead of him, standing in front of the stones, was a fairly large group of people. A small brunette with a red cape attempting to get the attention of a white haired woman with matching outfit, and a tall girl dressed in black trying to get a busty yellow haired behemoth of a girl off of her, who was crushing her in a hug.

Off to the side of those four stood a pink haired and hyperactive female, next to her was a man in green that looked like he was bored of whatever it was the pink hair was doing, and a small blonde man who couldn’t get up off the ground.

And finally, Carmine noticed the hat wearing, blue haired man who was hugging with a smaller ginger haired girl with shorts, who seemed to be gasping for air from the hat wearing man.

Carmine was about to go and greet them when he realized what he must have looked like. He took another glance down at his blood soaked clothing and mentally hit himself.

_‘Yeah, great first impressions. I look like I just killed someone.’_

_‘Well, you kind of did.’_

_‘Didn’t I tell you to leave me alone?’_

Carmine froze when he heard a loud roar come from behind him. He turned to find a Beowulf Grimm was rushing towards him at full sprint. Carmine stood up and attempted to clear the haze from his vision in a sudden rage, sick of feeling like this. Sick of whatever it was inside of him, and he didn't care if it wanted to help or not.

 _‘No! I fucking refuse to let that_ thing _fight for me anymore!’_

Carmine matched the roar of the Beowulf and allowed his aura to flare up, and Carmine felt _amazing,_ as he always did when he triggered this _._ Flaring his aura triggered his semblance for the first time in what seemed like forever, clearing the haze from his vision in a near instant and instantly cleared his fatigue. His breathing peaked, his blood flowed faster, his whole body felt _ready_. Feeling something move around his wrists, Carmine looked down to see that the gauntlets he was wearing were coiling chains around his arms. He raised an arm to inspect whatever it was on his arms, and for the first time since he woke up he could clearly see the gear. It was all black and had a little lip around the edges to prevent the chains from leaving the gauntlet themselves, which was now lowered to allow them to cover Carmines arm in a thin but strong layer of the metal. Looking closer, Carmine could read an inscription.

_PROJECT: Hades Gauntlet._

_‘What the hell are these?’_

_‘Carmine! Look out!’_

Dodging out of the way faster than he ever thought he could, Carmine managed to avoid a slash to his head from the monster chasing him. Turning around and taking a stance, he held his right hand to his cheek and his left stayed down, near his abdomen. The chains continued to coil around his flesh and rotate, giving him a feeling similar to when he sleeps on his arm. Just not as painful. The chains finished moving as they forged itself together in a tight weave, making an armored plate that surrounded his arm. A very _flexible_ armour plate.

Rushing towards the big Grimm, Carmine slammed a single closed hand into the chest of the raging animal. The chains wrapped around his arms added a bit of reinforcement and power, knocking it back a few metres and stunning it. Dropping one of the chains from his wrist as if it was instinctual, Carmine whipped the chains through the air as fast as he could muster in a big circle, before snapping it towards the stumbling Grimm and slamming it straight through its chest and hooking around it. Leading the chain back into Carmine’s second Gauntlet and attaching itself to the chains on there, he pulled with his left hand as he willed the chains to rapidly recoil around his wrist, which made the chains penetrating the Grimm act much like a chainsaw, ripping through its flesh and cutting it clean in half, it's body dissipating into dust as they always do.

After the chains relocated themselves around his gauntlets, he caught himself breathing deeply as he stared at the strange pieces of gear wrapped around his arms.

_‘What the hell was that? I’ve never learnt how to fight with this thing, what’s going on?’_

_‘Those bad people did a lot of good for you, Carmine. But they hurt you just as much in return.’_

Carmine stood up and took one last deep breath, before turning around to try and find the voice, which he realized was a lost cause due to it being inside his head.

_‘What do you know? What’s Project Hades Gauntlet? Why am I Subject 137? Who are you?’_

The voice did not respond this time, and Carmine pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. His thoughts were broken when something tapped against his shoulder, forcing him to spin around and be met with a purple haired teenager with a guitar resting on her shoulders, which seemed to be smoking out the sides. She looked at him quizzically and studied him for a few seconds, before smiling and reaching a hand out.

“Well, looks like the Grimm gotcha good, I heard the roar and came running. But you’re standing, and you don’t seem to have a partner. So I guess that makes you and me partners. The names Lilac.”

Carmine had so many questions, why was she smiling when he’s covered in blood? What Grimm live around here? Why hasn’t he met any yet? What partners?

He was about to protest before a loud crashing sound echoed through the forest. He and Lilac turned to find that a large Grimm, a Deathstalker was chasing a red headed woman wearing armour, and they were heading towards the group of people Carmine saw. He looked at Lilac, who stared back with equal shock and surprise to his own. He smirked and shrugged to his now 'partner'.

“Well, shit.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the final OC introduction chapter. This one was fast paced, and had not much violence in it. I wanted to give an idea of how Carmine fights and not ruin the future chapters I have planned for the big fight scenes.  
> Anyways, feedback is nice and I'd like to get better so cheers.  
> Not sure when the next chapter will go up, it will be the longest chapter so far (as will the rest be).  
> I'm aiming for maybe 10k a chapter, which will vary. So yeah aside from these chapters the fic will get longer.  
> Until then, see ya.


	5. Grimm of a Feather

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wonder how Bleu is doing after that ear-shatter..

_“Crimson’s back!”_

_A small purple haired girl ran out the front door of a house near the edge of Maiden Oasis’ shade into the blazing sun, chasing a large black shape in the distance. The brightly smiling child did not care for the heat bearing down on her skin, she was focused solely on the large bald man walking briskly towards her with a grin, the scars across his face contort as he does._

_“There’s mah lil’ rocker gal!”_

_Crimson Blaze throws the large bag off his shoulders and lowers himself closer to the sands of Vacuo to hug the excited little girl before him. The two shared a laugh as Crimson raised her high up onto his shoulders and allowed her to sit on his burly form. Picking up the large duffle bag, he continued the walk towards his home town, noticing a smiling redheaded woman standing outside the home the purple haired nuisance ran out of._

_Looking up to the small child Crimson smiled brightly as he saw how excited she was for his return._

_“So? How was things without me?”_

_The eight year old rolled her eyes and gave an exaggerated groan of despair, rubbing her hands to her eyes as she spoke. “Horrible. Scarlet actually made me do work. Like, cleaning my room and stuff. You wouldn’t believe how torturous that was.”_

_The older man chuckled as his belted shirt shifted under Lilac, an outfit choice Lilac would remember for years to come._

_“Oh really? Tha’s harsh, girl. I wouldn’ know, I’ve been fightin’ off King Kobra in the Eastern Dunes of Vacuo. I wouldn’ know tha definition of hard work.”_

_Lilac giggled as they neared her house, the redhead now accompanied by a bright blue lump of unkempt hair, clearly not ready for the morning. Lilac looked down to the hulk of a man carrying her home with a small smile, hoping to listen for more stories from the big man._

_“One o’ tha Kobra’s almost bit me arm off! Came this close!” Crimson lifts two fingers to emphasize his point. “Tha poor bastards learnt wha’ happens to Grimm who choose ta mess with me!” Crimson chuckles deeply as he looks to Lilac with a grin, only to notice that his small passenger was frowning._

_“If you’re not careful Crimson you’re gunna get into some real big trouble one day.”_

_Crimson attempts to smile, but instead chooses to hide his face from Lilac as he frowns in shame. He takes a deep breath and sighs._

_“Aye, I know kiddo.”_

 

* * *

 

Lilac was abruptly awoken from her memory by the sound of loud groaning near her. Turning towards the source of the disturbance she sees that Bleu was currently having a bad time in the medical office, with a small ginger girl holding his hand as the doctor invaded his ear canal with small tools.

Lilac turns to the window and notices that the sun had set beyond the horizon and the sky was getting dark, it had been a few hours since ‘the incident’ as Dr. Eriomirg called it. After Lilac had knocked out Bleu she immediately called for help and attempted to bring him to a doctor for help, making sure to keep his hat on to hide the newly found wolf ears. Lilac knew well enough how most treat a Faunus. In the end a small ginger haired girl helped her carry the unconscious Hunter in-training to the office of Doctor Azure Eriomirg. Bleu had already awoken by the time they were halfway to the office but couldn’t hear anything either of the girls had said. They opted to continue on their way to the office.

“Ouch! For fucks sake, woman! Don’t go di- Ow!”

Bleu’s rant was cut short when Azure, as the doctor preferred to be called by, slammed a book on the head of the angry teen. With a frown she pulled his ear harder, the doctor continued her work as she spoke. “No swearing in my office, boy. Unless you want to become blind as well!” Bleu could barely hear her at this point, but he knew a threatening face when he saw one, so he sat down and continued unknowingly holding the hand of the small ginger. Lilac smiled lightly at the helpful girl and poked her shoulder to grab her attention.

“Thanks for helping out with Bleu here, I’m Lilac by the way.”

The girl smiled as she looked to Bleu. “Eh, it’s nothin’. I like helping people out where I can. Name’s Auburn.”

“WHAT ARE YOU TWO TALKING ABOUT? ARE YOU CALLING ME DUMB?”

Auburn cringed at the excessive use of volume, while Lilac seemed unperturbed by the disruption, smiling widely as Azure once again slammed his head with a book.

“AT THIS RATE I WOULDN’T BLAME THEM, YOU DUMB DOG.”

As Azure shouted this she had managed to fix Bleu’s hearing, almost damaging it again. Falling back in his chair Bleu looked to the woman with a shocked look, his hat falling off to reveal his wolf ears. “How did you know I was a Faunus?”

Azure lowered herself to lend a hand as the blue haired teen raised himself up. When he was up and standing she huffed and walked over to her desk to pull out a drawer.  “I’m a doctor, you mutt. It’s not hard to figure out.” Grabbing a piece of paper and proceeding to write a report for Bleu, she turned to him with a glare. “Don’t leave yet, you gotta sign this.”

Bleu poked his tongue out as he turned around with the intention of apologizing and thanking the two girls in the room, to find Auburn giggling and Lilac with her arms crossed. Bleu looked first to the giggling redhead with confusion. “What?”

She smiled brightly and let another small giggle escape her lips. “Nothing, you silly puppy.”

Bleu blushed furiously as he joined Lilac’s pose and crossed his arms across his chest. “I’ve been called worse.”

Auburn continued to giggle as she repeated the word slowly under her breath. Lilac sighed and took a step towards the once deaf man while scratching the back of her head. “Look, I’m sorry that I accidentally almost deafened you, I didn’t realize Ozpin was done with his speech.” Bleu just shrugged and gave her a smile. “And I’m sorry that I bumped you on my way to Ozpin.” Lilac returned the smile warmly. “No harm no foul, eh? Why were you in such a hurry to visit Ozpin anyways?”

Bleu shifted uncomfortably in his stance and looked around the room, anywhere but Lilac’s gaze. “That’s my business, I need to talk with him about some things.” Bleu feigned a smile as he signed the papers Azure handed him silently. “Speaking of which, I need to go see him. Thanks for reminding me.” Bleu readjusts his hat and reached out for a handshake for the two girls. “Hope to see you two again soon.” The two girls shook the hand of the man and said their goodbyes.

As the trio parted ways, with Bleu heading towards the Headmasters office, Lilac and Auburn walked back towards the dormitories as they were told to just after Ozpin had finished his speech. Auburn had a small skip to her step while Lilac simply looked up into the sky as she walked. “So Lilac, what’s your story?”

Lilac paused for a slight second before looking to the curious redhead. “What do you mean?” Auburn giggled as she skipped ahead a few steps. “Well, for example I’m from Atlas, I’m an only child, and I want to be a Huntress ‘cause it sounds like fun, and I love helping people. What about you?” Lilac smiled a little as she thought back to Maiden Oasis and her family. “Well I’m from Vacuo, I’m also an only child, and…” She looked away for a split second at the memory of her mentor. “…I want to be the best Huntress in the world.” Auburn noticed her hesitance, but decided to not press the issue. “What about your weapon?”

Auburn pulled her pistols from their respective holsters and spun them around on her fingers. “These are my Huckleberry, dust powered revolvers. Had them since I was young.” Auburn continued to spin the guns in her hands, sometimes throwing them up in the air and catching them to resume the spinning. “They only hold six rounds at a time each, but hey they pack a punch.”

 Lilac frowns and kneads her knuckles into her palm. “Well my guitar, Crossfade, is in it’s case back at the dorms. I don’t really feel like showing it off just yet, if that’s alright.” Auburn smiles as she softly pats Lilac on the shoulder. “That’s alright, I think I’ll see it in action soon enough.”

About half an hour passes and the two continued talking to each other, discovering new things. Auburn loves to eat peaches, Lilac likes to watch instructional painting videos from Ross Bob, the list went on as the two continued talking.

Finally, they reach the dormitories they were instructed to sleep in for the night. The floor was covered in mattresses with sleeping students residing inside the covers. A few of them remained awake and talking, but looked as though they didn’t wish to be bothered or even continue being awake, looking just about ready to head off and dream of tomorrow.

Lilac and Auburn searched out for a small space somewhere on the floor where they could place down their luggage and sleeping bags. Eventually through the sea of students they found a nice corner to rest in, being sure to leave a space available for Bleu and bringing his stuff over. Lilac smiled as she was reunited with her bags and cases, all of the items inside were precious to her in one way or another. She placed her luggage down next to her head as she sat down on top of the covers, Auburn next to her with nothing but a small suitcase and her revolvers. A vast contrast to Lilac’s massive amp, guitar and laptop case, and the suitcase with her clothing and possessions.

Auburn smiled as she rolled over to look at Lilac from the floor. “What do you think of Bleu?” The purple haired musician smiled at the gingers words. “Despite everything, I reckon he’s a pretty cool guy. I mean, he did apologize for knocking into me, even after I deafened him.”

Auburn nodded as she propped her elbow against the floor to rest her head on. “He’s such a puppy though, Faunus are so fascinating.” Lilac raised an eye to that comment as she pulls out her scroll. “I thought all you Atlesian folk hate Faunus?”

Auburn shakes her head and sticks her tongue out. “Do I look like a normal Atlesian? My parents hate them but I’ve always been interested in Faunus, I kinda wanna study them but I don’t think Beacon has a ‘Faunus Studies 101’ class.” Lilac laughs lightly at the small gingers curiosity.

“Well, I’m sure you could ask Bleu a few questions. Pretty sure he’d be cool with it.”

The sharpshooter shifts slightly in her position with a worried glance to her friend. “I don’t know, like would you walk up to someone and ask them a bunch of questions about their race? It seems a bit rude.”

Shrugging as she scrolled through some videos, the purple haired girl takes a small glance to the ginger before looking back at her scroll. “I’m pretty sure Bleu is fine with it, just don’t bring it up in public. I’m sure he wears that hat for a reason. If I was a Faunus, I’d probably hide it too.”

 

* * *

 

_Bleu could smell the burning wood of the house around him, choking him of oxygen and blinding him as he desperately attempted to get out. A large slab of burning wood crushed the doorway he was running for, forcing him to hastily turn back around and rush for a new exit. The twelve year old Faunus didn’t know what to do._

_He could hear screaming above him on the second floor. That with the smoke and the heat, the situation was too unbearable for him. He could hear voices, but couldn’t make out the words. He tried to scratch at the blackened walls of the building, desperate to escape the torture._

_Suddenly, a loud crash came from behind him. Turning around only to see a charred wall he braced himself for whatever it was causing the sounds. Suddenly the wall collapsed, and he could see a shape of a man, wielding a giant scythe as he slashed his way through the house._

_“Hey kid, follow me if you wanna make it outta this place.”_

 

* * *

 

“Thank you for coming to me as soon as you did, Bleu.”

Ozpin sat at his desk inside his office, overseeing his academy up on one of the highest pillars with a warm mug of coffee in his hand. Currently sitting across the desk from him was the blue haired Faunus he had known about since Qrow told him. _‘To think how many years have passed since that night…’_

Bleu held his arms up and stretched nonchalantly, trying to seem as though he’s uninterested in the current conversation. “So, what’s up Ozzy?” Ignoring the nickname, Ozpin leaned back in his chair and took a long sip of his coffee.

“As much as I’d like to tell you that your entry into Beacon was a free trip merely because of your skill, I’m afraid to say that is not the case.” Bleu was not surprised in the slightest, although offended at the remark.

“So, what’s the plan then?”

Ozpin flipped the screen of his computer over to face Bleu so he could clearly see the words on the screen, the letters NSI inside a flaming phoenix egg. It looked to be a logo.

“Have you ever heard of Nova Science Incorporated?”

Bleu shook his head no, and Ozpin continued. “Well, you don’t need to know much. All that is needed to be known is that I strongly believe that within the Emerald Forest lies a base of operations for a specific sub-division of theirs, working on a project. I am tasking you with finding out where and what.”

Bleu looked at the aged professor with a curious gaze. “Why not someone more qualified? Why not get Qrow?”

Ozpin sighed as the screen flickered once more, revealing a very familiar section of Mistral and a black figure wielding a scythe. “Let’s just say Qrow wasn’t only in Mistral for your sake, as for anyone else I have no one else, or anyone I trust.” Bleu nodded and looked from the screen back to Ozpin.  “What am I on the lookout for, exactly?” Ozpin taps his desk once with his coffee mug and the screen flickers once again, revealing a large insignia etched into black curved metal, bearing only three words in a stylized font; _Project Hades Gauntlet_.

“This project in particular. They’ve had others before this one, but this one is especially important. According to my sources they are engineering a weapon of some kind, something powerful enough with the potential to take on an army single handedly.” Bleu nods as he looks to Ozpin thoughtfully. “So, what’s the order?  Search and destroy?”

Ozpin laughs as he holds his hands tightly, resting his elbows on the desk. “No, no. Nothing of the sort. I just want you to find them.”

“Them?”

“Yes, _them_. The project is with a human, that is all I know.”

Bleu gives Ozpin a very serious look before leaning forward, resting his arms on his knees. “I thought you said they were engineering a weapon?”

“Correct.”

Assuming Ozpin won’t reveal anything more, Bleu continues anyway. “What’s so special about them? What could they be doing?” Ozpin shuts down the screen of his computer and sighs. “I will only say this; they may be someone either incredibly powerful or incredibly unstable, so stay ready for a fight either way. But be sure to not kill them. Hurt them if you must, but I will not allow you to murder.”

Bleu nods at the headmaster. “And what if they don’t want to fight?”

“Then I suppose this is a rescue mission. Keep in mind that NSI have kept this individual for quite some time against their will, however. This group hasn’t done anything legitimate for a few years now, so I doubt this was volunteer work.”

Bleu nods, liking the idea of being some kind of hero, defeating a big organization out to hurt innocent people and experimenting on one. But there was something that was still bugging him.

“Why me?”

Ozpin responded with no hesitance.

“Do you seriously think Qrow never once told me about you during his visits to Mistral? Or about that day he saved you?” Bleu felt his heart stop for a brief moment before he calmed himself. Ozpin shook his head as he resumed.

“Bleu, for Dusts sake Qrow trusts you with all his drunken being. That one night in Mistral wasn’t going to change that. If Qrow clearly trusts you, then I believe I can trust you.”

Bleu smiles lightly as Ozpin nods his head towards the door. “You have your orders, Bleu. Good luck.”

And with that Bleu left the office of the headmaster.

He took the scenic route back to the dormitories, not wanting to get anywhere soon in a hurry and simply desiring to enjoy the scenery. Bleu has lived in Mistral his entire life and as such has no experience with anything outside the region. The night skies of Mistral were always cloudy and covered in mist. In Vale, however, the night sky was shining brightly with the light of thousands of stars, a sight Bleu could come to love.

It was much later since he visited the medical office so nearly all the students were asleep. Opening the doors as quietly as he could muster, Bleu takes a look inside the room to see that the lights were nearly out, all except for one area in the corner where a very faint light was emanating, lighting up a familiar purple haired woman’s face, her pink eyes focused on her scroll as the light flickered.

Bleu attempted to walk towards the light, a phrase he hoped to never use again. The hundreds of sleeping bodies made it an issue, but he managed to finally reach Lilac, and the sleeping form of Auburn. He could make out some audio coming from the scroll in the hand of Lilac, but it was barely audible.

_“…other news, the White Fang have successfully captured a small village in Mistral nearby Haven Academy, details are fuzzy and so far we cannot confirm if there are any survivors.”_

Lilac sighs as she closes the app, aware of Bleu’s presence as he sits down next to her, taking the spot she saved for him along with his luggage which she placed there. He smiles and whispers, hoping she could hear him.

“Hey, thanks for saving me a spot, appreciate it.” Lilac tiredly smiles at the Faunus and nods. “It’s the least I could do considering I blew out your ears.” Bleu leans back and nods to her scroll.

“Trouble back home, eh?” Lilac lowers her scroll into her bag, only the moonlight now illuminating their faces. “Mistral is your home? And yeah, White Fang have taken a village, no one knows if anyone is alive or not.” Bleu sighs and holds his knees to his chest, resting his chin on them. “They give Faunus’ a bad name, and give humans a good reason to fear us.” Out of the corner of his eye Bleu saw Lilac give a small nod as she yawns.

“Back in Vacuo all we had to deal with was the occasional Sandworm, and even then that wasn’t often at all.” Bleu huffs a laugh as he turns his head to properly address the rocker. “Desert dweller, eh? How’s the change of climate doing for you?” Silently, Lilac drags a thumb across her neck and lolls her tongue out. “It feels like I’m freezing to death.” Bleu laughs as quietly as he could, despite how much he wanted to burst out. “Poor lil’ Vacuo girl can’t stand the cold? I thought it was freezing in the desert?”

Lilac rolls her eyes at the Faunus as she lies under her sheets. “Doesn’t mean I’m immune to it, genius. Sure this ain’t nothing like Vacuo nights, but hey it’s still uncomfortable.” Bleu nods in agreement as he slides himself underneath his own sleeping bag, turning to face the wall. “Well, at least it isn’t Mistral.”

 

* * *

  
_“Kid, look. I know what ya thinkin’.”_

_Bleu and Qrow sat at a local cafe near where the young Faunus lived in Mistral, it had a very traditional look and feel to it. Wooden tables and chairs inside, and a few outside under umbrellas, which is where the two currently sat._

_Bleu had ordered a simple cheese burger with fries while Qrow had just finished one of his strawberry donuts and a milkshake. The old hunter had his elbows resting on the table, attempting to make eye contact with the Faunus who was currently very interested in his own shoes._

_“You wanna take revenge against the Fang, I get it. But you’re just too young. You’re fourteen for crying out loud, why can’t you do normal teenager stuff like complain about girls or play video games?”_

_Bleu’s gaze never left the floor beneath him. Qrow sighed and pushed his second donut towards him. “Look, how about this? Sign up for Haven Academy. Learn how to fight and protect others. That’s a start.”_

_When Qrow saw Bleu’s face lift up slightly he grinned. “Maybe then, after a few years or so, you can fight the Fang.” The Faunus was now making eye contact with Qrow, and the old huntsman could see the conflict in his eyes._

_“And hell, you know what? The day you’re strong enough to fight the Fang, I’ll tag along with ya.”_

_Qrow reached over to Bleu and held out a hand to shake. “We’ll skip along and drag them to hell screaming by the legs for what they did, kid.”_

 


	6. Examination and Elimination

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time for examination, maggots.

_Scarlet and Cerulean walked through the dusty establishment deep in Vacuo, one of the them with great reluctance and the other with great excitement. A lightly dressed gentleman led them down a hallway with doors on either side that seemed to extend on forever. Bricks lay within the walls and some of the doors were left open, allowing the couple to view the small rooms within. Bunk beds sat near the walls on either side with a single desk near the window, which was almost always left open in every room. In a few of them sat some children, playing with toys or writing on paper._

_Scarlet saw many children in the orphanage bedrooms, and every one she saw made her want to leave more and more._

_‘I’m not cut out for this. I can’t be a mother. Oh god, what if they hate us? What if they think having two moms is weird? What if she finds my stash? What if-‘_

_Scarlets thoughts were cut off when she felt a hand close around hers and squeeze gently. She turned her head to look as Cerulean smiled brightly at her, bringing Scarlet’s attention to the large room they had just entered. Tables were scattered around the impressively sized room in a chaotic fashion with children seated around them. Some were eating what appeared to be a disgusting grey mush while others seemed to be simply enjoying each other’s company with conversation._

_The man turned to the couple with a sad smile and waved a hand over the room. “Go on, introduce yourselves. And don’t feel bad if you can’t choose, not many people can.” He turns to the children with a sigh as he pulls out his pocket watch. “These are good children; please take good care of the one you choose.” He turns to them and gives a gentle nod. “You seem like caring people, I am entrusting the future of one of these children in your hands.” As the man takes his leave back down the hallway towards his office, the couple took in the sheer amount of children surrounding them. Scarlet swallowed audibly as Cerulean squeezed her hand slightly harder._

_“Scar, don’t worry. They’ll absolutely love you.” Scarlet huffs and shrugs her shoulders in disbelief. “Cerulean, I’m not sure. I’m not exactly ‘mom’ material.”_

_“Well you never know, Scar. You might not be mom material, but you’re certainly child material.”_

_As Scarlet turned her head to face her partner, she spotted a very vibrant colour in the corner of her eye. Sharply turning her head she spotted what appeared to be a young, purple haired girl._

_She was sitting far in the corner alone, avoiding the gaze of the other children. She held a small toy guitar in her hands, lightly fingering the strings as she paid very close attention to a piece of paper on the table in front of her, most likely with notes written down. Scarlet could hear the sounds coming from the instrument and could tell she had been practising for a very long time._

_Scarlet made a beeline straight for her._

 

* * *

 

“WAKE UP MAH-GOTS!”

Lilac shot straight out of her sleeping bag with a very confused, very tired brain. In her mind, right here right now, the apocalypse had begun.

And it was pissed.

“YOU LITTLE PUKES AIN’T AWAKE YET? HOW’RE YOU GUNNA BE HUNTERS WITH THIS KINDA ATTITUDE, MAGGOTS?!”

The loud murmur of disgruntled students filled Lilac’s ears, forcing her face to scrunch up in agony. She stretches her arms and shakes her head violently to clear up any feelings of grogginess and fatigue. Raising herself up fully, and mumbling a few choice words, Lilac attempted to locate the source of her disturbance.

“…if I wanted to I could completely tune out all of this.”

“OH COULD YOU NOW, MAGGOT?”

Lilac could swear she damn near jumped out of her skin as her vision was suddenly full of beard and her nose full of alcohol. A very short man with broad shoulders stood in front of the huntress with an angry look and his hands on his hips. He wore a bandana around his forehead with the letters B.A.M.F in clear black letters, and a small splatter of what appeared to be blood. He was wearing Military fatigues with a belt around his chest filled with grenades, and a large weapon attached to his back.

“IF YOU COULD IGNORE THE APOCALYPSE WOULD YOU?”

Lilac blinked once, making sure to tune her ears to pick up this short man far less than anyone else.

“Um, well-“

“DO YOU ASK WHY THE SKY IS BLUE, MAGGOT?”

“I-“

“NO. YOU ACCEPT AS FACT.”

“You-“

“DO YOU ASK WHY WE WAKE UP IN THE MORNINGS?”

“No-“

“WRONG. THE ANSWER IS NO. YOU ACCEPT AS FACT.”

The loud man now turns and marches away from Lilac in standard Military style before turning around sharply to face Lilac once more “MY NAME IS ERNEST BENEDICT EGGSBERT, AND I AM YOUR EXPLOSIVES WEAPONRY PROFESSOR. YOU WILL REFER TO ME AS ‘SIR’ OR ‘SARGE’.”

‘Sarge’ does a salute and once again turns away from Lilac to march away and harass other students.

“SEE ME AFTER YOUR EXAMINATION, BUTTERFLY.”

Lilac blinks in confusion and tilts her head slightly, only now becoming aware of the fact that Sarge had disturbed both Auburn and Bleu from their rest. “Butterfly? Why am I Butterfly?”

“Probably cause your soft.” Bleu stretched his arms high and gave Lilac a smirk. “You didn’t hold your ground. You kinda just quietly stood there and took his shit. You probably left an impression on him.”

Auburn yawned lightly as the trio stood and watched as other students clambered around trying to gather their minds from the rough awakening Sarge gave them.

“Lilac, Bleu?”

The two turned their gaze to the small ginger sitting on top of her sleeping bag. “Yes Auburn?”

“What does B.A.M.F stand for?”

Bleu responded without hesitance. “Beacon Academy Military Force. Looks like our Sarge here is involved with them somehow.” Auburn nods and stands up. “I like the sound of the letters; I could be such a badass motherfucker with a belt saying that I am B.A.M.F.”

After completing their morning rituals, the students started chatting amongst themselves as they ate what food they had brought with them to Beacon.

The trio had sat back down and gathered their senses after the rude awakening from Sarge and were waiting with everyone else to see what happens next. Lilac had brought a bag full of sandwiches made by Cerulean, which she insisted Lilac take. Auburn had what appeared to be a very expensive looking bowl of rice, prawns, and caviar.

Bleu was the odd one out, having nothing and simply opting to watch videos on his scroll. Lilac took note of this and offered one of his sandwiches, which Bleu politely declined until Auburn made a fuss about not being hungry during his examination. Reluctantly eating his sandwich, the trio sat and talked amongst themselves, discovering new things about one another.

“So, you have two moms?”

Lilac nods and smiles, remembering the good times with her family.

“Are they hot?”

A book to the head and an apology later the three continued sharing things about their life back home in their regions. Auburn spoke highly of Atlas’ beauty during winter and how the snowfall looks at night, Lilac shuddered at the thought of Vacuo’s heat outside of the shade of Maiden Oasis, and Bleu said little about Mistral, although the infamy of the region spoke levels to the two girls. Lilac and Bleu were shocked to learn that nothing of interest really happened with Auburn. She grew up with her family in Atlas and trained with her guns, and that’s about it.

“ATTENTION, MAH-GOTS.”

Every student in the room turned a head to see Professor Eggsbert and a blonde haired woman unfamiliar to the trio walk in from the front entrance. The taller woman had a clipboard held in her hands and was writing something down as Professor Eggsbert addressed the crowd.

“ME AND PROFESSOR GOODWITCH HERE WILL NOW DIRECT YOU TO YOUR EXAMINATION, MAGGOTS.”

Before he was able to open his mouth to speak again, Professor Goodwitch lifted her gaze from the clipboard and turned to the explosive man and raised a finger. “‘Professor Goodwitch and I’, Professor Eggsbert.”

The entire room held a breath, the students shocked. The brief time they were introduced to the Sarge they could see he was a man you didn’t want to mess with. Unsure of how the Sarge would respond to being corrected, surprising everyone the short man turns and bows to the taller woman with a smile.

“Why thank you kindly, Miss Goodwitch.”

After a small moment of stunned silence from the students, Sarge turned back to everyone with an angry look in his eye.

“FOLLOW ON, MAH-GOTS. ANYONE WHO WISHES TO BE A PANSY CAN STAY BEHIND AND GO HOME. THE REST OF YA WITH SOME GUTS, MARCH FORWARD.”

The students all filed out the door that the two professors entered in and followed as they were taken to the examination. Along the pathway through Beacon at some point Sarge managed to slow down to talk to individual students.

“BUTTERBALL, KEEP UP NOW. YOU DON’T WANNA FALL BEHIND.”

“SHARP TONGUE, I HEARD THAT REMARK MISSY.”

“PUKE BAG, STOP TOUCHING THAT FAUNUS. DON’T MAKE ME COME OVER THERE.”

Cardin Winchester backed a hand away from Bleu who was fully aware of what was happening without Sarge pointing it out, and was ready at any moment to strike back. Thankfully, Sarge scared off Cardin and Bleu smiled.

Sarge was now marching in line with Lilac and her friends, and she was preparing herself for whatever complaint Eggsbert has with their ragtag group.

“BUTTERFLY, I HOPE YOU HAVE A STRONGER GUTS IN THE BATTLEFIELD CAUSE YOU’RE ABOUT TO NEED THEM.”

“MOONSHINE, YOU BETTER KEEP THAT MOUTH OF YOURS SHUT, I HEAR WHAT YA SAY. DON’T THINK I DON’T.”

“GINGERSNAP, STAY STRONG AND KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK YOU BADASS.”

Lilac and Bleu did a double take on what Sarge said to Auburn, who merely smiled and saluted the professor. He returns the salute and continues on his walk through the line of students.

“SKINNY BOY, YOU BETTER STRAIGHTEN UP.”

“Y-yes sir!”

When the students arrived at their destination Professor Ozpin and Dr Azure were standing near the edge of a cliff studying the students as they lined up along the edge. Professor Goodwitch took her place next to Ozpin, Azure was writing on her clipboard and occasionally looking up at the students, and Professor Eggsbert stood at the opposite end of the line of students with a straight back looking ahead of the cliff.

Professor Ozpin coughed once into his hand and addressed the students. “Alright, this is the situation. The sight before you is the Emerald Forest.” For some reason, Lilac heard Bleu shift uneasily in place as Ozpin waved a hand over the forest before them. “Deep within this forest are ruins which house artefacts. Your mission is for each of you to find these ruins and take one artefact each, no more.”

Turning his gaze back onto the students with a small smile and a sip of his coffee Professor Goodwitch takes the stage from him and raises her scroll containing pictures of multiple Grimm. “The forest is populated with various forms of Grimm, so be ready for a fight no matter where you are. You are free to use whatever methods you see fit in order to dispatch a Grimm, and as a side note you are forbidden from attacking anything that is not Grimm.”

Lowering her scroll to her clipboard, the Professor takes a step back closer to Ozpin. “Also, as a reminder, the first person you make eye contact with will become your partner with you for the duration of your time here at Beacon. Throughout your study years this person will be glued to you, you will work together. You will live together. You will eat together.”

A very quiet murmur can be heard as the students talk amongst each other, surprised at this news. Professor Goodwitch raises her scroll and shows what appears to be a stopwatch primed. “The examination will continue on for however long there are surviving students, it can and _might_ go on for days if it has to. However, the quicker you finish this examination, the higher your grade overall will become. Although you will pass either way, it is better if you do it quickly.”

“And remember this, students.”

Everyone’s gaze returns to Ozpin as he lowers his coffee mug from his lips, a grim look on his features. “This examination forces your most instinctual survival skills to take root and be used. You are fighting for your very life every second you spend within the forest; this is no time for hand holding.” Ozpin looks every student in the eye as seriously as he could muster.

“From this point onwards, you are Hunters and Huntresses. Fight like one, lead like one, become one.”

Dr Azure walks forward and lowers her clipboard to address the students before her with a disinterested look.

“Throughout the entire examination I will be monitoring your Aura levels at all times. Should one of you should fall in battle and die, your families will be notified as soon as possible of your failure to complete the examination. Keep in mind, we will not make efforts to rescue you or your body, so fight your hardest before death.”

Everyone in line looked very uneasy at all of the news being beared onto them.

“MAH-GOTS.”

At the familiar words every student straightens their posture and waits for Sarge to continue speaking. Eggsbert was walking along the long line of students towards Ozpin while keeping constant eye contact with every individual as he passes them by.

“I WILL BE REVIEWING YOUR FIGHTS AND COMBAT PROWESS DURING THIS EXAMINATION. EVEN IF YOU DO MANAGE TO ESCAPE THIS HELL AND COME OUT ALIVE, IT WILL NOT SAVE YOU FROM THE ASS RIPPIN’ I’LL BE GIVING YOUR BEHINDS IF YOU STUFF UP. I’M TALKIN’ TO YOU, SKINNY BOY!”

A boy Lilac recognizes as Jaune shuffles slightly in place as Eggsbert addresses him at the very end of the line of students. As Eggsbert takes a stand next to Dr Azure and Professor Goodwitch, Ozpin steps forward and raises a finger with a smile.

“Oh and by the way, we hope you don’t mind but we’ve designed a new way for students to enter the forest this year.”

As his sentence is finished, the ground beneath Bleu suddenly shoots upward and flings him high into the air. Although everyone else cannot hear what he’s saying, to Lilac it’s clear as day.

“OZPIN I SWEAR TO DUST THIS GUY BETTER BE WORTH IT TO YOU!”

_‘Guy?’_

Lilac’s thoughts were interrupted when the ground next to her, where Auburn was standing, suddenly shoots up in a similar manner. This time, every student heard as Auburn screamed laughter at the top of her lungs as she hurtled through the air.

_‘Oh, crap.’_

Lilac screamed bloody murder at the top of her lungs as she too was thrown into the abyss of Grimm and death.

 

* * *

 

_“…and this is your bedroom. Hope you’re okay with it, we tried to gussy it up a lil’ before.”_

_Lilac walked slowly into her new bedroom with a look of utter shock. A large single bed lay in the corner, with a wardrobe opposite of it. A small desk sits next to it with an office chair tucked in. The carpet beneath her feet felt soft and cool to her bare feet as she walked, her mouth opened in shock as she stares at the room before her._

_“So what do you think?”_

_Lilac turns to see Scarlet and Cerulean peering in through the doorway, looking for a sign of confirmation from the six year old. Scarlet had the most anxious expression out of the two.Scarlet struggles with words as she tries to gauge what Lilac’s reaction is._

_“L-Look, if it’s not good enough we can fix it u-“_

_Lilac ran towards the couple and tackled them in the tightest hug her small body could muster, shocking the two for a brief moment before they return the hug as gently as they could. Cerulean leans down and rubs the small girl’s hair. “You belong here, okay? You always will.”_

_Scarlet removes Lilac’s arms and kneels down to meet her at eye level with a smile. “You’re our little girl, alright? We’ll always love ya, and we’ll always have your back.”_

_Lilac nods through tears as she hugs Scarlet with all her might once again._

_“I love you, mom.”_

_Scarlet held back a gasp and let a tear escape her eye._

_“I love you too, Li.”_

 

* * *

Ozpin takes a long sip of his coffee as he watches Jaune being flung through the air at high speeds and crashing into some nearby trees. The aged professor smiles as his colleague stands by his side. Professor Goodwitch remains silent for a short time before she turned to suddenly address Ozpin. “Sir, I must ask you, why _did_ you choose Bleu Horizon out of anyone to go and obtain the weapon?”

Ernest and Azure look away from their current task to look towards the two professors, obviously wondering the same. Ozpin doesn’t seem to react at first, calmly sipping his coffee as he stares over the Emerald Forest in deep thought. “Tell me, Glynda. Have I ever led you wrong?”

Shocked by the question the professor regains her composure before nodding with her hands behind her back. “Never, sir. But this is an odd quest to give to a young Hunter, I do not know why you didn’t simply give the job to Qrow, or even allow James to search the forest with his men.”

Ozpin turns around fully to face the three colleagues before him, the professors all paying close attention to his words. “Bleu Horizon on the surface is a clumsy and flawed Hunter, but in combat he is a lethal hurricane. He can be a slacker, and often times he is a silly little child at heart.”

Taking another sip from his mug Ozpin raises a finger. “But, that is exactly what I need.” Turning back to the forest before him Ozpin examines the foliage in search of students as he addresses the professors and doctor. “If the subject wishes to fight or be a danger to students Bleu has the skills to take him out. If they simply want to talk and wish to be friendly then Bleu can do that as well. We all know as well as anyone that Bleu can befriend anyone.”

Once again sipping from his mug Ozpin continued. “I lied to Bleu when I told him I don’t know who it is that might hold the weapon. The possibility is narrowed down to one individual. However, the question of the hour is not who has the weapon. The real question is who does the weapon have?”

Ozpin takes a long sip of his coffee while searching the Emerald Forest for a trace of disturbance. Professor Goodwitch looks to Ernest and Azure behind her, who seemed equally as confused, and then returns her gaze to Ozpin. “Well, who could the weapon have?”

Ozpin visibly sighs before adjusting his posture. “They are either an old friend, or a friend of a friend. Either way, I strongly hope they don’t wish to fight.”

Meanwhile, deep within the Emerald Forest, Bleu manages to land on top of a Creeper Grimm, cushioning his fall for him. After dusting himself off and looking around for anymore Grimm, Bleu nods and pulls out Walkabout from its holster.

“Alright, Mission #1, find the base of the NSI. Piece of cake.”

“I love cake!”

Within a span of less than five seconds, Bleu unloads the entire two clips from his shotguns in a large circle surrounding him. Stopping himself from reloading another clip, he attempts to locate the source of the voice he recognized. “Who the hell has the balls!?”

The next thing Bleu knew, his vision was suddenly full of ginger coloured hair. Stepping back slightly to assess his current situation, he sees Auburn hanging from a tree above him. She was caught on a bundle of vines low to the ground. The two lock eyes for what seems to be forever before Bleu casually aims a shotgun upward and blasted the vines out from under her feet. As she flips over and lands on her feet Bleu turns around and smiles to himself.

“C’mon, partner. We got a mission to complete. Can you handle yourself in a fight?”

Auburn simply pulled out her dual revolvers and winked to the Faunus. “Easy.”

Deeper within the forest, Lilac trudged through the thick forest carefully, being sure to not alert the small group of Beowulf’s close by her. She could pick up their breathing through her hearing and was careful to not alert them of her presence. When she was sure that she was outside of their hearing she marched forward, deeper into the forest with determination.

“Now, where the hell is this ruin…?”

In preparation Lilac had her guitar case, which was strapped to her back, locked before they ventured with the professors. Thankfully this meant that Crossfade was kept within its case and not flung out when she was catapulted into the forest.

Kneeling down and placing her case on the forest floor, Lilac pulled out her beloved Crossfade, an electric guitar that was engineered to use dust. It suited her well. It was mostly purple and black, the end of the neck had four spikes that protruded outwards, and the body had four exhaust ports that stuck out lightly on the edges.

Cradling her precious possession gently she reattached the case to her back and continued on her trek through the forest, contemplating who she could get as a partner.

_‘Let’s see, there’s always Auburn or Bleu. They’re pretty great and they can handle themselves well in a fight. I’d just need to find one of them I suppose.’_

Lilac sighed as a realization dawned on her.

_‘Unfortunately that leaves one of us with a random partner. Gunna have to just wait and see I suppo-‘_

Lilac’s thoughts were cut off as she was hit from behind with a large amount of force, knocking her down and making her roll back onto her feet. Looking back behind her in the spot where she once stood was a mighty Ursa Grimm, standing roughly twice as tall as Lilac herself. It roared loudly as it pounded the ground beneath it, Lilac simply smirking at the display it was putting on.

“Hey there, Winnie. After some honey are you?”

The Ursa roared in response, its primitive mind incapable of processing Lilac’s taunts. Fortunately for her, she didn’t care. Bending over and wagging a finger towards her, Lilac simply continued taunting the ferocious foe before her.

“C’mon, big boy. You know you wanna.”

Whether the Grimm understood her or not didn’t matter, it charged forward towards Lilac in a sprint nonetheless. Smiling the entire time, Lilac grabbed Crossfade by the neck and readied like much like a batter would at a baseball game. She stood and waited, balancing the guitar on her right shoulder waiting for the Grimm to get within her range.

“…going…”

The Grimm roared once again as froth left its mouth, eagerly awaiting its meal. Lilac readied her hands along the neck of her guitar.

“…going…”

As it raised a paw to smash down onto Lilac, she clicked a trigger along the neck of Crossfade and the exhaust ports within the body let loose with a torrent of dust, giving Crossfade a nice, sharp kick to smash into the Grimm with. The Ursa was knocked far back to the left of Lilac, smashing itself through a tree and disintegrating when it hit the ground.

Lilac righted herself and smiled at her handiwork, the tree collapsing on top of where the Ursa lay before it disappeared.

“…gone.”

As she continued on her path through the forest to find a partner, Lilac had a skip to her step with her Crossfade resting on her shoulder.

 

* * *

 

_Scarlet awoke in the early hours of the morning to a strange noise coming from within her house. Making sure to not wake up Cerulean and leave the bed, she groggily made her way down the hallway towards the source of the disturbance. She soon found herself at the door to Lilac’s room, from within she could make out what seemed to be guitar chords, except something was off._

_‘What’s my lil’ rocker doing?’_

_Carefully opening the door, Scarlet sees Lilac sitting on her bed with her guitar held in her hands, which was losing all of its strings but one. It was only a toy guitar, not meant to last long. Lilac still hadn’t noticed Scarlet peering into the room yet as she was too focused on the loss of her instrument._

_Slowly closing the door, Scarlet knew exactly what to do for her daughter. Rushing into the kitchen to grab a phone from the bench, she quickly tapped in a number she knew she could rely on._

_“…bzzt…bzzt…bzz- Aye, Crimson Weaponry and Hunter Services ‘ere, you have a Grimm problem, we have a grim solution! How ken I help ya?”_

_“Crimson, it’s me Scarlet. I need your help.”_

 

* * *

“Are we there yet?”

“No.”

“How about now?”

“No, Auburn.”

“Okay, how about now?”

“Auburn, I don’t know where we’re even going.”

“…That’s not a no.”

Bleu huffed with a small smile as the two of them trekked through the dangerous forest. _‘She’s annoying but you can’t be mad with her, it’s so evil.’_ Bleu looked back at Auburn with the same smile. “Auburn, I’ll let you know when we get there. I promise.” This appeared to pacify the small ginger as she just nodded and looked around the forest in awe, giving Bleu time to think.

_‘Alright so, before I even think about locating those ruins I have to find the base of operations for Nova Science Incorporated. Top priority to locate them. The only problem I gotta face is Auburn. How do I explain what’s gunna go down to her? Ozzy said to not tell anyone.’_

Bleu had placed Walkabout back in its clip after the scuff he had with Auburn, and was currently resting his hands on the handles that stuck out. Auburn was resting her hands on Huckleberry, both Hunters were ready at a moment’s notice to fight should they need to.

_‘She seems like she can handle herself in a fight, probably has no issue dealing with lesser Grimm. At least she carries two guns like I do, so she has good taste at least. Big ones like Ursa she might struggle wi-‘_

A single, loud shot rang out through the forest behind Bleu. Turning around he spots Auburn with one of her revolvers in hand. Following the direction of the barrel Bleu spots a large group of Beowulf’s originally left undisturbed until now. It seems Auburn decided to take a shot at them and managed to nail one.

“Auburn, what the fuck?!”

The group of Beowulf’s charged at the duo in full sprint, ready to unleash hell on them. Auburn simply giggled as she raised her second revolver; meanwhile Bleu was already dashing in the direction of the Grimm, ready to intercept their charge.

Bleu could feel the wind break on either side of him as Auburn fired rounds on the Grimm ahead, clearing out any of them he couldn’t reach when he got closer to unleash his version of bullet hell. Pulling out Walkabout he throws it in its boomerang form towards the group of Grimm, watching as it sprays bullets with every spin and hitting Grimm as it returns he carefully grabs it from mid-air just as he finally meets the group.

Grabbing Walkabout by the sides he snaps the handles off of each other, dual wielding them together as he fires randomly from inside the pack of Grimm, shredding them from the inside out. Spinning around rapidly and fully unloading his rounds in a large area around him, Bleu successfully clears out any of the remaining Grimm that Auburn or his boomerang didn’t kill off.

_"DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE!"_

As the corpses dissipate around him, Bleu pants softly as Auburn walks towards him with a smile and a giggle. “That was fun.” Bleu held his shotgun to his forehead and feigned a shot going through his head while he stared at Auburn with a deadpan expression.

“Never, ever, do that again.”

Auburn continued laughing and, despite how upset Bleu was, he started laughing too. The two hunters laughed for what seemed like hours in the Grimm infested forest, not a care in the world to either of them.

High up on the cliff during the encounter, Professor Ozpin was fascinated with the Hunters fight. _‘Well executed, I suppose. They could have had more communication between the two of them. Bleu did well despite circumstances, they’ll make great Hunters.’_

“Sir, Mrs. Ray’s aura levels went down to zero.”

Ozpin sighed sadly and ran a hand through his hair. “Azure, she’s standing right there. Don’t try and play with my heart like-“

“They shot straight back up to 100% mere seconds later.”

Ozpin’s hand froze in mid-air as he waved it around to respond to Azure. Ernest was busy conversing with Glynda off to the side of the professor and doctor, so they heard nothing from the two.

Ozpin slowly turned to face Azure with a grim look; Azure shared the same look, a small amount of black hair covering her face. The two stared at each other for a good long while before Ozpin spoke, a tone of disbelief in his words. “Aura Flaring. Auburn Rays can flare her aura?”

“Yes, I doubt she was taught how to. The technique was banned quite a while back in school’s decades ago. I suppose she must’ve picked it up somewhere in a very old book. That’s the only reason I could think of.”

Ozpin held his chin in thought for a brief moment longer, pondering what this could mean. “Aura Flaring. The act of pouring your aura straight into your semblance. Dangerous, but handy. Makes your semblance that much more powerful.” Ozpin took another sip from his coffee before noticing it was now empty, tossing it aside. “Extremely dangerous. It leaves you most vulnerable. One quick strike could kill you.”

Azure lowered her clipboard and looked to Ozpin with concern. “Should we-?”

“I told them that if they died in this forest then that’s what’ll happen, Azure.”

“…very well, sir.”

After they were finished laughing, the two students set their path more clearly. Bleu led Auburn straight through the foliage and eventually the two came across what appeared to be the ruins mentioned by Ozpin, and when approached Bleu saw what the artefacts were.

“Chess pieces? Really Ozzy?”

Shrugging Bleu decided to go for the one closest to him and Auburn; the Rook. As he took his piece he turned to see Auburn also taking a Rook piece with a smile. Bleu nods to Auburn and leans against the walls surrounding them. “I say we wait for Lilac to get here, just to be sure that she’s still alive.” Auburn nods to Bleu and plops onto the ground in a cross legged position.

_‘I know I gotta find that weapon, but I’m not leaving a friend for dead.’_

After a few minutes more people arrived to hang around waiting for others. First there was a blonde woman with a black haired girl, which Bleu could _swear_ he could smell Faunus on. At most the only thing the two did to either Bleu or Auburn was a nod and a small “Hello”. They decided to sit around and wait for others to come, just like the duo.

A sight Bleu thought he’d never see happen occurred later, a small woman in pink managed to ride an Ursa to death getting to the ruins with a black haired man in green clothes. Bleu complimented her on the amazing display, but other than a big smile neither her nor the man paid much attention to Bleu and Auburn. They did, however, chat with the blonde and black haired woman.

Bleu laughed and turned to Auburn with a smile. “It’s like we’re background characters to an anime or something.” When Bleu noticed Auburn’s eyes widen, he did not expect her to grapple onto his side as fast as she did in a crushing hug.

“Oh my gosh you like anime too? Oh my gosh have you seen Ten Kick Woman yet ah its amazing personally I loved Drake Spheres X as well but that was a loooong time ago but oh my gosh I need to see Life Letter I heard its incredible an-“

At some point Bleu stopped listening to what was being said and tried to pry Auburn off of him, to no avail. With a sigh Bleu crossed his arms and huffed, no longer paying attention to the crowd of people that have gathered around the ruins.

_‘Why do I deserve this? Did I kick a Faunus in the past life?’_

Nearby Bleu’s location, Lilac was currently walking through the forest, still in search of someone to be her partner through Beacon. Brushing aside a small strand of purple hair and rubbing a thumb over the blood coating Crossfade’s neck, she began to wonder if she actually managed to leave the forest.

“Like, it’s not at all impossible. Maybe I went in the opposite direction of the ruins Ozpin mentioned. Maybe I’m somewhere else in Vale entirely.” Lilac groaned and slumped forward as she walked, annoyed at both herself and Remnant in general.

“Stupid other regions being so stupid. At least in Vacuo I don’t get lost in a forest.”

Just as Lilac was about to complain further about the current state of her life, a loud roar and the sound of someone yelling snapped her from the daydream as she rushed in the general direction of the noise.

What she found was a tall teenage boy she didn’t recognize, covered in blood. He was wearing a red jacket with a white shirt underneath it, which was now stained red, and a pair of black jeans. His hair was short and didn’t seem to be cared for. As she made eye contact with him she noticed that one of his eyes was green and the other was red.

_‘Huh, cool.’_

Giving the boy a curious look, Lilac extends a hand with a genuine smile. _‘Finally, a partner!’_

“Well, looks like the Grimm gotcha good, I heard the roar and came running. But you’re standing, and you don’t seem to have a partner. So I guess that makes you and me partners. The names Lilac.”

She was excited, extremely so. With a partner she could hopefully live through this hellhole of a forest and finally be accepted into Beacon.

_‘I can make Crimson proud.’_

The boy seemed hesitant as he stared at the hand being offered to him, as if he had no idea why he was there. Before Lilac could question the why and how of this student before her, a loud crash came from behind where they were currently as Lilac saw the ruins Ozpin mentioned, as well as a Deathstalker charging through the clearing towards the group of students.

Lilac heard a small laugh and looked to her partner with confusion, while he just smirked.

“Well, shit.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you can spot the references I've made so far you are a better person than I.


	7. A Bloody Encounter (+)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Test your might, and your teamwork, and maybe your bloodlust.  
> (+) Reworked on 09/03/2017

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't write fight scenes for shit so enjoy it.

_"Carmine, look. We know you want to stay here in Atlas with us and study, but Summer will be going to Beacon Academy in Vale anyway. So it's not like you'll be alone!"_

_The odd-eyed teen played with the peas and mashed potatoes on the plate in front of him as the man across the table spoke inside his cold house._

_"These people at Nova Science are offering top Lien for what they have in store for you, Carmine. You could get that snowboard you've had your eye on."_

_When the black-haired child didn't respond to his words, Carmine's father brushed his beard with a free hand as he sighed, slumping back in the rickety wooden chair. The home of the Thorte's was clearly that of a family who could only afford the barest of necessities living in the frozen tundra of Atlas. A slave to the Atlesian social hierarchy. The walls were aged and scratched together with whatever wood and adhesive that could be found. The kitchen the two males of the house currently occupied housed a couch, a table that could barely hold its own weight, and a set of benches that held whatever appliances they could afford. Behind the father stood a doorway that leads into the bedroom of Carmine's parents, and the door to the left of it was the room that housed Carmine during the bitingly cold nights Atlas offered. And finally, across the house stood yet another door, which lead to the houses spare bedroom. Currently closed, the occupant of this room was preparing themselves for an adventure into Vale, various sounds could be heard through the wood of the door._

_"I know you're scared of leaving Atlas, Carmine, but you'll be with Summer! Maybe they'll let you visit her every once in a while, who knows?"_

_The mammoth of a man stood up and walked around the table to pat Carmine on the back, his voice masked with the tone of amusement. "With your semblance you won't be getting sickly or hungry often, and you can aura flare anyway so you won't be in danger! Eh? What do ya say?"_

_Carmine shuffled uncomfortably in his seat as he continued to stare at the very interesting plate of food before him. He heard his father sigh as he placed two hands on Carmine's shoulders, the tone of his voice becoming sombre._

_"Your mother is getting sick, Carmine. It's hard to bring up, I know. And Oum bless her heart she keeps kicking. But she needs medical attention for the blackening, and Eiskalt is bearing down hard on us for all the debt we owe her. There's not much we can do, son."_

_Carmine looks up at his dad with sadness as they met the eyes of a man who was trying everything to keep his wife away from a fate worse than death._

_"These scientists at NSI can pay us enough to help out with the debt at least, and give us peace of mind. They've even offered to help your mother deal with the Frostbourne, and you know as well as I do that this sickness isn't one that is easily dealt with." His father patted his hand once in thought._

_"Frostbourne eats at your aura, Carmine. You don't feel it until it's too late. If it weren't for that Lycan that bit into her torso we wouldn't be having this conversation but alas, here we are."_

_Carmine wiggled in his father's grip, scared by his words. "She'll need more than medical attention. She'd need rehabilitation for the muscles, she'll need supervision, she'll need time. Nova Science is offering that and more for her, Carmine."_

_When Carmine looked back to his plate, he heard his father sigh once more before he felt his hands leave his Carmine's shoulders and heard his footsteps wander around the table._

_"Son, I won't force you. But please think about your mother in all this. The representatives of NSI are coming tomorrow to confirm if you're going with them or not. Please make a decision and let me know before then, even if it's your choice to stay."_

_His father pats his back once before retreating towards his bedroom where his wife currently lay in bed, leaving Carmine with his plate of unfinished food and some choice words._

_"I'll still love you, Carmine. Even if you choose to stay. And you know your mom won't ever hate you, no matter what." His father was about to close the door to his room before he stopped himself, looking once more at the teenager. "Do what you think is best, son."_

_As he went to close the door, he heard Carmine rise from his seat and almost knock his food away._

_"I'll go."_

 

* * *

 

 

Ozpin stood calmly atop the cliff near the Emerald Forest, keeping a close eye on the ruins that housed the artefacts he placed within the forest. He could very clearly make out a small group of students, many of which he recognized near instantly.

Of course, there was Bleu Horizon and Auburn Rays, two Hunters he has kept notes on for some time now. Auburn’s reveal of what she’s capable of shocked Ozpin, but he didn’t let it shake him up too badly, and Bleu has the responsibilities Ozpin thrusted onto him so it went without speaking that he was keeping tabs on the blue haired menace.

Ruby Rose and her friends were as much a central focus to the aged professor as Bleu was. Both students had great potential and a heavy burden ahead of them in the near future, and he certainly hoped they can cope with the pressure that comes with it. The small and overly energetic teenager was just like Bleu; not intimidating but extremely lethal should the situation call for it.

Ozpin smiled lightly as he looked at the rag tag group of young and aspiring Hunters. For a brief moment, he allowed himself to forget the trouble that NSI had built over the years and simply enjoy the pride he felt knowing that he was aiding the growth and development of a whole new generation of guardians for Remnant.

“Professor, there’s an unidentified Aura signature nearby the ruins.”

Ozpin turned to face Azure with a focused look in his eyes, she was currently tapping away at her scroll as the holographic map in front of her showed the ruins Ozpin was just observing. All of the students Aura signatures were gathered in the centre, a mass of different coloured dots on the map, while off to the side deep behind the trees stood two other signatures.

Ozpin straightened himself and studied the map carefully. “How potent is their Aura? Who is near them?”

With a tap of her scroll Azure zoomed in closer to the two signatures with the map. Ozpin noted that one of them was a deep purple while the other was a dark red. Azure looked up from her scroll to point a finger at the map to the purple coloured dot. “That one there? That’s Lilac Dawn. Relatively strong aura levels, she’s more than well equipped.”

She moves her finger across the map to indicate the red coloured dot. “That one there? Complete mystery. Whoever they are, they’re not registered with the academy. Their Aura is strong too, near the level of a third-year Hunter.”

Ozpin held a hand to his chin in thought, staring intently at the map before turning back to the forest ahead. “Could it be…?” Ozpin lowered his arms to his chest and crossed them. “Keep an eye on them, Azure. This could be you know who.”

He didn’t hear a response from the doctor. She was too busy studying the red dot on her map with great intensity. She bit her lip as she glanced down to her scroll, a picture of an explosion resistant barricade closed and coated in blood greeted her screen.

As the Deathstalker broke through the forestry and began its charge towards the ruins that was currently housing a large group of students, Bleu and Auburn quickly scattered out of the destroyed stones and out of the way of the charging beast. Bleu and Auburn turned to see the Deathstalker rushing off through the forest, a group of students chasing after it.

Bleu dropped his hands to his knees and started taking the deepest breaths he could muster, while Auburn gently patted his back. He looked up to the ginger as he adjusted his hat, who was equally as shocked and out of breath. “Are they fucking mental?! That thing is huge! There’s no way they can handle that thing!”

Auburn simply shrugs and continues patting the Faunus’ back while she too fights for her lungs. Neither of them heard the footsteps coming from the distance until they were extremely close by. Looking up once again, Bleu saw Lilac running towards the couple of exhausted students. Behind the purple haired chick was another that Bleu failed to recognize, but he was too tired at the time to decipher this new mystery.

“Are you two alright?” Lilac grabbed Auburn by the shoulder and looked at her with great concern, to which the ginger merely responded with a thumbs up and a smile from her hunched over position. “Never better, Li. Who’s your new friend?”

Bleu raised himself up to face and greet the new person. As his eyes travelled upwards he noticed two very large metallic objects strapped to his wrists. Bleu stopped himself before looking further upward and read, in very distinct and bold lettering, the words ‘ _PROJECT: Hades Gauntlet_ ’.

Bleu felt his blood run cold, the world around him slowed down to a halt, his mind began processing a million different possibilities a second. The person he was tasked with searching for just walked up to him like it was a normal day. What does he want? Who does he want? Will he attack? Questions flooded Bleu’s mind as his world slowed down around him.

And then it all stopped.

He looked up to the face of the newcomer with a look of fear, taking note of his eyes. One of them was bright green, the other bright red. ’ _Definitely who I’m looking for…What do I do about this?’_

Auburn quickly stood in front of Bleu and waved at the man with a bright smile. “Hullo! My name is Auburn, and this is Bleu!” The stranger gave the small ginger a smile and a little wave back, the blackened metal on his arm shaking with the motion.

_‘What the hell am I doing?’_

_‘The better question is what were you going to do before this girl found you?’_

“My name is Carmine, nice to meet you.”

Noticing the distressed look on the Faunus, Carmine simply thought it was due to the Deathstalker that ran off with the eight students. Looking around at the ragtag group he found himself a member of, Carmine shrugged his shoulders and looked to Lilac for guidance. “So, what’s the plan? Do we help the guys who ran off to chase the Grimm or…?” Lilac shakes her head and looks to the destroyed ruins. “We need to grab an artefact each first, then we worry about anything else after that.”

Each of them nod their heads in agreement before quickly rushing over to the dilapidated stone that housed the relics they needed to escape this examination hell. Both Carmine and Lilac picked up the only remaining pieces, two Rooks. The group gather together in the middle of the stones to examine their pieces. Bleu chuckles as he throws his piece up into the air and catches it. “Leave it to Ozzy to come up with the corniest relics for his stupid examination, eh?”

In the distance, far from the group, Professor Ozpin carefully studies Bleu’s actions as he interacts with the newcomer. Ozpin quickly took note of the metallic gauntlets wrapped around his wrists and the odd coloured eyes he possessed. _‘So I was right. I wonder how you will handle the situation you have found yourself in, Carmine.’_

“Sir, shall I intervene and remove this unknown person from the premises?”

Ozpin turns himself to face Glynda and shakes his head. “No, I’m interested to see where this goes. Allow them to complete the examination. I left a surplus of extra pieces in the ruins, so this shouldn’t pose an issue for the other students.” While the professor silently questions her superior’s orders, she simply nods and retreats to talk with the Sarge further.

Azure moves closer to Ozpin as he returns his gaze to the four Hunters, watching the forest with him. She sighs with relief once she spots the small group in the distance, a small smile gracing her lips.

“Ah, so he finally showed up? It’s been a while.” Ozpin raised an eyebrow as he turned his attention to the medical professor. He spoke with a hushed whisper, hoping the other professors didn’t catch what was being said. “Didn’t you say they had an aura level equivalent to a third-year Hunter? Without prior training?” Azure nods, and turns to fully face the headmaster. “Incredible, isn’t it? What NSI is capable of. It’s both amazing and terrifying what they’re able to do with a little time and a lab rat.” She turns her attention back to the scroll in her arms and continues tapping away. “Although, Ozpin, you should know better than anyone that an exceptionally strong aura level isn’t everything.”

A loud crashing sound vibrated through the air, startling the two professors. Looking towards the four Hunters they notice they were currently running away from the biggest Grimm the forest had conceivably ever produced. Ozpin regained his posture and smiled a little, while Azure looked horrified at the sight.

“…a Luna Beowulf.”

“LILAC WE GOT THE ARTEFACT CAN WE WORRY YET!?”

The colossal beast roared with all its might as it pursued the four students through the overgrown forest, the spikes along the back of its forearms shaking with each step, smashing down any tree or obstacle in its path to chase after its prey. The small group was currently running in the opposite direction to where the eight students from before ran off.

Eventually they came across a large clearing within the forest filled to the brim with smaller Grimm in their path. Beowulfs and Ursa in large swarms turn their attention to the group of students running from the much bigger predator. The Luna Beowulf was at least four men tall, and much wider than. Carmine swore under his breath as Lilac and the others around him ran forward with their weapons drawn, ready to take on the oncoming threat.

_‘Great. I still don’t know how these gauntlets work and the universe expects me to fight a whole damn horde of Grimm and a goliath sized one. Brilliant!’_

As his thought finished, Bleu’s weapon whizzed past Carmine’s head and started shredding an approaching group of Grimm up ahead before returning to Bleu’s hands. Carmine could feel the wind beside him break with shots from Huckleberry as Auburn shot at the various Grimm that were left out of the groups, easily picking them off early before they become a problem.

Hearing a mechanized whirr of machinery Carmine turned to see Lilac pulling out her guitar and pointing the neck of it in the direction of the group ahead of them. Placing her chip on the chords Lilac starts playing her instrument with a precision that rivalled the best, and as she did sprays of dust-fuelled bullets started coming from the head and impacting the Grimm. Carmine could see the smirk of champions across her face, and as he looked at the other two fighting alongside him he took note of how much _fun_ everyone was having.

_‘Their lives are in danger, they could be killed at a moment’s notice, and yet they’re having the time of their lives.’_

Carmine closed his eyes and concentrated on his own breathing. His own view of the world around him slowed down as a Beowulf jumped toward him. The black-haired mystery could hear the blood within his veins being slowly pumped through his body, the adrenaline flowing through his very being, every twitch of muscle fibre as he sprinted through the hell-infested clearing within the forest, and he could feel the coiling of chains coming from within the gauntlets on his wrists. He could feel the prickling of blood entering the gauntlet and coming out as metal inch by inch.

For the first time since he woke up, Carmine was in control.

Jumping up and twisting his body around, Carmine willed the chains coming from the gauntlets to twist around with him like a whip and slash the Beowulf cleanly in half. His chains recoiled back and followed the movement of his hands as he landed back on his feet and continued sprinting. A second Grimm, an Ursa, leapt at him and in a whirlwind of blood and metal he cut it down the middle and ran straight through the mist that it created.

Impressed with the actions of the new guy, Lilac grinned even more as the four of them slashed and killed their way through the large clearing of Grimm, a four-person army destroying a much larger threat with ease rivalling that of cutting through butter with a white-hot knife.

Ozpin observed the onslaught of blood and metal with great interest, focusing more on Carmine than any of the others but at the same time watching the entire event. A scoff from behind caught his attention for a moment but his gaze returned to the hunters as they rip their way through the forest. Azure walked up to his side and continued watching the students fight their way through.

“Amazing how strong they are together, isn’t it?”

Ozpin laughed lightly as Carmine used his chains to tear an Alpha Beowulf in half and continue sprinting across the clearing with the other three hunters in tow.

“Amazing doesn’t really do it justice.”

A Nevermore swooped down and attempted to clip at the Hunters but Lilac’s volley of bullets quickly stopped that, the young musician headbanging along as she ran.

“They could become the strongest Hunter team since STRQ, you know.”

Ozpin nodded in agreement absent minded as Auburn nails eight Grimm from across the battlefield, the goliath Luna Beowulf still in pursuit as the small ginger reloads her revolvers.

“Or they could become Remnants worst nightmare.”

Azure shrugged in neutrality as Bleu blows the heads off two incoming Grimm, blowing the smoke away from the barrels of his shotguns.

The ragtag group finally reach the end of the clearing, a large mountain cliff stopping their progress from retreating. Quickly turning to face their threat, the Luna Beowulf roars as it continues it rampaging charge directly towards them, the large army of smaller Grimm following behind in its wake.

Laughing as she does it, Lilac cranks a lever on Crossfade and points the head of the dust spewing gun directly at the oncoming storm. “Well, gang, looks like it’s a final stand. Any last words?” She turns to her right in time to see Bleu smirk as he snaps Walkabout into its boomerang form and holds it behind his head, ready to launch the devastating weapon. “Yeah, if we live from this you owe me a drink.” He looks to the ginger-haired menace and sees her loading odd coloured rounds into the chambers of her guns, she winks to the Faunus and aims her revolvers with a glowing red eye. “All I want is a cupcake, thanks.” Carmine shakes his head with a smile and shakes his wrists twice, loading the gauntlet with metal and willing it to eject and spiral around his body, slowly coiling through the air in front of him as he smiles. “Whatever happens here today, it’s been a hell of a lotta fun.”

The group scream out a battle-cry as they charge forward and take on the horde of nightmares before them.

Carmine slashes his way through the mass of blackened flesh with ease. His chains obeying his commands as though they were his own flesh, swiftly coiling through the air and striking where he needs it to. Although to his knowledge this was the first time he had ever used such weapons, to him in the heat of the battle it all felt natural as though he had been doing this for years. Wrapping the chains around certain muscles felt like it improved them somehow, when Carmine leapt up high into the air he did so with the support of the chains around his leg muscles. High up above all the action Carmine looked down and saw the sea of Grimm him and his friends currently occupied. The raging beast of the Luna Beowulf now stomping its way through the horde to kill the Hunters.

Carmine looked at the huge monster from high up in the air, forcing his chains to shape and sharpen into a spear protruding from the bottom of his foot as he dropped back down to ground level, skewering a Beowulf straight through its skeleton and into the ground beneath it. When the metal pierces the ground, it reshapes itself into a blade and Carmine kicks upward with enough force to then slice the corpse of the Beowulf in half, and in turn slice the skull of the Grimm next to it, before Carmine does a spin and cuts his metal through the flesh of all Grimm in his immediate area. Recalling the metal away from his legs, Carmine covers his right arm in the metal and smashes a punch straight into the underfoot of the Luna Beowulf, which was about to crush him.

The beast roared in pain as it took a step back away from Carmine, but didn’t let up as it attempted another stomp on top of Carmine. More prepared than before, Carmine angrily stared at the massive black limb currently falling towards him. He felt the familiar rush of blood and adrenaline he felt when he was inside that facility, before he blacked out and killed people. But this time Carmine was ready for it, and he was ready to control whatever it was inside of him.

“I’m gunna fucking **devour you!”**

With all his might and knowledge, Carmine flared his Aura through his heart and straight into his veins. It felt like a million jolts of electricity rapidly surging through his system. He felt his gauntlets burst off his arms as metal started uncoiling itself in excessive amounts and surrounding his body in a mass of bloodied metal, making him look like some sort of beast with hair made of metallic fibre.

Carmine, with all his enraged and blood fuelled might, slammed a metallic covered fist into the beast before him, sending it hurtling into the air, straight into the area where Lilac was currently doing a circular spin with Crossfade into the surrounding area. Spraying dust and smashing skulls, Lilac finished up her spin by slamming the body of Crossfade into the heel of the giant monster looming before her, knocking it clean off its legs and sending it tumbling to the ground.

Bleu was on the receiving end of the torso landing on top of him during his bullet hell. He was shooting his rounds in all directions before the body came close to him, at which point he finished off a Beowulf nearby and then aimed a gun straight through the body of the beast, clearing a big enough hole for him to fit inside as it landed. The shockwave of the fall was enough to alert Auburn, who was sharpshooting everything from far behind, to the skull of the fallen behemoth. With a smile and a glowing red eye, she nailed a shot straight through the monster's left eye, just as Bleu was done shredding its insides and climbing out of the broken corpse of the once great beast.

A few moments passed before the Luna Beowulf’s corpse started to melt down to dust, as all Grimm do. In those moments, the group saw that the rest of the smaller Grimm had dispersed and was now staring at the students in fear. Lilac laughed as they ran off away from the four of them, sitting down cross-legged and continued laughing with Crossfade secured to her back by a strap. Bleu smiled at the purple haired girl and fell backwards into a spread-eagle position, laughing along with his friend. Auburn smiled and started laughing too, looking to Carmine and seeing the last bits of metallic hair re-entering his body through various slits of flesh along his wrist, she sees that he is smiling at the group, although clearly uncomfortable. She doesn’t blame him for that though.

Auburn sighs and sits with her friends, smiling all the while as the blood covered Hunters relax after a tiring victory. Bleu raises his head up and looks to Lilac and Carmine with a grin.

“All in favour of waiting a bit until we return say ‘Aye’.”

“Aye.”

Back on the cliff, Professor Ozpin and Doctor Azure stare in shock at the results of the war they just witnessed. Both terrified and intrigued by what they saw. Ozpin rubs his chin in thought as Azure taps away at her scroll in a frantic panic desperately writing notes, leaving Ozpin to his thoughts as the professors return to the amphitheatre to congratulate the successful students.

“...Carmine Thorte. Where did you learn to Aura Flare?”

 

* * *

 

_‘Carmine, c’mon man. You don’t think bein’ a Hunter sounds cool?’_

_Carmine was sitting in a hospital waiting room, a small plush toy of a Nevermore in his hands as he wiggled his little legs back and forth on the chair. Anxiety raced through his body as he worried over the girl his family found._

_She was on the side of the road unconscious as Carmine’s family were travelling back home from the Atlesian markets. Carmine’s father immediately picked her up and raced the family back towards town to deliver her to the emergency room._

_“Mr Thorte? She’s awake. Would you like to see her?”_

_Carmine shot up from his chair as his father nodded to the doctor. Feeling a hand touch his back, Carmine saw his mother smiling as she followed him into the room where the small girl was kept._

_Her hair was white as snow, and as she looked to the small boy who entered the room, she said something that would stick with him for the rest of his life._

_“Your eyes are cool.”_

_Carmine smiled slightly as he sheepishly hid behind the leg of his mother._

_“So are yours.”_

 

* * *

 

 

"...and Lie Ren. Together, you four will form Team JNPR. Lead by Jaune Arc."

_'That guy looks like he's barely able to stand in front of a crowd, let alone lead a team.'_

Carmine huffed in annoyance at the thought as thousands of hands clashed together to applaud the newly formed team. Carmine meanwhile was questioning what exactly he was still doing hanging around inside the prestigious academy. When Lilac and the others told him to follow along he knew that his mere presence would attract enough attention to cause for alarm. Surely someone was bound to point out that Carmine didn't exactly belong in the group of aspiring Hunters?

_'So if I'm in the all-powerful Beacon Academy, that probably means the guy up on stage handing out responsibilities like candy is Professor Ozpin himself.'_

"...and Yang Xiao Long. Together you will form Team RWBY. Lead by Ruby Rose."

Carmine chuckled under his breath as one of the students, a white-haired woman with a scar, looked extremely bewildered and disgusted by the announcement. 

_'I wonder if Summer is anywhere close by? She could probably tell me more about whatever happened when I left Atlas to come here with those guys from Nova Science Inc..'_

Flexing his forearm, Carmine looked at the small slits of open flesh that dotted his wrist. Through the spaces he could clearly see the metal formed from his own blood, it's existence still a mystery to him. One he planned on solving as quickly as possible.

 _'Priority number one; Blend in and try and find Summer. Either that or at least discover what the_ hell  _those people did to me. I need to go back and visit that place I busted out from later. Maybe the other three would be willing to lend me a hand...'_

"...mine! Psst! Carmine!"

Snapped from his thoughts Carmine looked to his left to see Lilac Dawn looking very annoyed, as well as the entire crowd of people he was currently standing in the middle of. Behind her he could clearly see Bleu and Auburn also looking to him expectantly.

Lilac tried her best to whisper-shout at the confused teenager with cupped hands over her mouth. "We were called up! C'mon! Don't keep him waiting!"

_'...what?'_

Carmine reluctantly, and confusedly, followed behind Lilac Dawn, Bleu Horizon, and Auburn Rays as the four of them reached the stage up with Professor Ozpin himself, who seemed to smile at the sight of Carmine.

_'Hasn't he figured out I'm not a student in his little academy? What the hell is going on?!'_

The aged Hunter clears his throat and waves a hand over the four before him.

"Bleu Horizon, Lilac Dawn, Auburn Rays, and..."

Ozpin's smile grew two sizes as he nodded in the direction of the new addition to his Academy.

"...Carmine Thorte."

Carmine's blood ran cold as he stood still, keeping up a poker face as best he could in the face of the all knowing Professor.

"Together you four retrieved the black Rook pieces. From this day forward you will work together, eat together, train together, grow together, and fight together."

The monitor floating above Ozpin changed as it did for the previous team formations to show pictures of each student currently on stage as well as their names, including Carmine.

"You will work together as Team BLAC. And you will be lead by Lilac Dawn."

The crowd roared with applause as Lilac jumped up with excitement, laughing and giving her new teammates a thumbs up. Bleu and Auburn clapped along with the crowd before the blue haired Faunus grabbed the two women into a group hug and cheered with the rest of the crowd. Ozpin took a sip from his mug as he watched the new team celebrate, with the amphitheatre coming alive with the sound of a new generation of Hunters.

"Looks like this year will be..."

Turning his attention to the odd-eyed student, Ozpin saw the cold look of anger Carmine was currently drilling into the professor's eyes. Amidst the hugging and clapping and general celebration the academy was coming alive with, the world to the two currently locked in eye contact was muffled and slowed as Carmine and Professor Ozpin held their own secret war with eyesight, and if he could Ozpin had no doubts Carmine would shoot lighting from his stare. Ozpin dropped his smile and gave Carmine a serious look, one that translated to Carmine that not only did Ozpin understand, but he knew how deep the rabbit hole went.

"...an interesting one."


	8. Summer's Winter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time to plan some action regarding NSI.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is 7184 words long (according to Microsoft Word) and yet I honestly feel like I could have added more, but when reading it I couldn't see anything worth changing.  
> So I dunno! Feedback is appreciated, as always.

“I suppose you’re all wondering why I called you to my office after I formed your team?”

Team BLAC currently sat within Ozpin’s overly sized office high above the grounds of Beacon Academy. Ozpin as always was calmly sipping at his mug while seated behind a holographic monitor on the desk in front of him. Directly across the desk from him sat Carmine and Bleu, while Lilac and Auburn were seated next to their respective partner. Carmine and Bleu in particular looked very stressed, and Lilac could sense the tension the between the two students.

“Well, I’m going to cut to the chase and explain everything I know about the current situation you four have found yourselves in.”

Before he could even take a breath to continue his thought, Lilac shot an arm up into the air. It wasn’t asking for permission to speak, merely to warn that she was going to talk.

“If I may, sir, what situation exactly? I mean, we formed our team, we met our partners, and things seem to be going smoothly. I don’t see the issue?”

To her left Carmine scoffed lightly and crossed his arms, not breaking eye contact with Ozpin as he spoke. “The issue is that I’m not meant to be here, and I’m willing to bet our illustrious headmaster here knows more about what happened to me than I do.”

Lilac seemed stunned by how forward he was with addressing the headmaster of Beacon Academy, but said headmaster didn’t seem even remotely fazed by how agitated Carmine was at the current time. Waving a hand down, Ozpin lowered his mug onto the desk and rested his elbows on the desk, his chin sitting on top of his hands as he spoke.

“As much as I hate to admit it, Carmine, I only know the barest of details about what happened to you inside that base.” Without moving a single muscle the holographic monitor between Ozpin and the team flickered to life with images, ones Bleu was very well familiar with. Ones Carmine was even more so used to. The emblazoned emblem of the flaming phoenix egg served as a quick reminder to who started all of this, Bleu and Carmine both nodding as the two girls looked confused at the symbolism.

“Nova Science.”

Ozpin began tapping away at his keyboard as images continued flying past on the screen in front of the students. “Carmine, all I’m going to say at the current moment is that if you agree to listen to what I have to say before making a choice I will assist you in any way I possibly can to track down what has happened to you, I give you my word. Even if your choice is to leave this academy and never return I will offer all my support.”

Leaning back in the chair he occupied, Carmine continued to stare at the images shown before him. Lilac and Auburn both looked wildly confused at what was currently transpiring in front of them, while Bleu looked ready to kill something at a moment’s notice.

Feeling an unfamiliar sensation touch his hand, Carmine looked down to see Lilac had placed her hands on his wrists. Looking to the purple haired girl Carmine saw she had a pleading look in her eyes, almost as if she was concerned about him.

“What’s going on, Carmine? I don’t understand.”

“Carmine wasn’t enrolled with Beacon Academy until you found him wandering the forest alone, Lilac. He escaped a facility that has been housed within the forest for a few months now.” Without missing a beat Ozpin continued typing at his desk while talking casually to the team about top secret information, all the while the four students listened to his every word. “And I’m willing to bet he has many questions about all this, so this is how everything will go down.”

Pausing his monitor at an image of a set of bloodied barricade doors, Ozpin took a deep sip from his mug as he addressed the four hunters in front of him. “I will share the information that I feel everyone in this room should be aware of, your teammates should know this information should you decide to continue staying here at Beacon. If you can’t trust your team, then who can you really rely on?”

Carmine silently agreed with those words as Ozpin continued, Lilac’s grip tightened slightly on his wrist. “Later on, Carmine, you will go with Dr Azure and she will explain things to you that you may wish to keep to yourself or share with your team. That decision is left to you.” Ozpin motioned with his hand to behind the team, and to the teams surprise they were no longer alone in the massive office.

Firstly, Dr Azure herself was leaning on the wall next to the doorway into the office. Unusually, she was not preoccupied with her scroll. She was looking directly at Ozpin as she was being addressed. Standing firmly and tall, a lot closer to the desk where Ozpin and the students stood, was Ernest Eggsbert. Sarge wasn’t looking at anyone in particular, just simply standing to attention. And finally, to the right of Sarge stood Glynda Goodwitch, who nodded as Ozpin waved a hand in her direction.

As the students turned back to face Ozpin, he was already prepping his monitor to show something new. Footage of the fight with the Luna Beowulf played in front of the team who participated within that very same fight. Ozpin stood up from his seat and wandered around the desk, stopping nearby Auburn and resting a hand on his desk.

“The only people aware of the information I am about to share are currently standing in this room, so don’t be scared.” Carmine hesitated before he nodded, not in agreement but in understanding. “Alright, let’s begin.”

The room was suddenly plunged into darkness as security rollers snapped down onto the windows, obscuring the view of the entire office from any unwanted participants. Ozpin, Glydna, Sarge, nor Azure flinched as this happened. The students only had the light of the monitor playing footage of their fight to see anything, Ozpin pointed a finger to the monitor at a point Carmine remembered well.

“First of all, Mrs Rays and Mr Thorte here have knowledge of a technique that was banned in teaching a few years ago, both of you displayed that you can Aura Flare.” Carmine swallowed as the footage showed the moment in the fight when he did just that. Ozpin didn’t hesitate in his speech. “Although technically _using_ an Aura Flare is not banned, a teacher or qualified staff member is prohibited from teaching students how to perform the technique. That being said, Mr Thorte and Mrs Rays may continue to use the technique guilt-free. I just wanted to clear this up before we continued.”

The headmaster looked to the blue and purple haired members of the team, while Carmine looked thoroughly confused, and Auburn had been relieved to hear about this news. Ozpin directly addressed both Lilac and Bleu, the purple haired girl had removed her hands from Carmine when Ozpin mentioned aura flaring.

“Carmine can explain what an Aura Flare is to you two later, but please never tell anyone I informed you about this topic. Even discussing it is enough for me to get removed as headmaster by the high council. Understand?”

Both students nodded, and Ozpin took that as a sign to move on. Waving a hand across the monitor, the footage of the fight ceased and the picture changed to that of a set of barricade doors, coated in blood and scratch marks. As Ozpin looked back to the students he noticed the worried look on Carmine’s face as he observed the picture.

“This is the facility Carmine broke out of within the Emerald Forest. It is one of many bases of Nova Science Incorporated and their projects. We only found it after the examination began, when Carmine broke through the entrance and demolished it.”

Before Ozpin could continue, Bleu shot up from his seat and raised a fist to the headmaster. “You mean to tell me after you ordered me to locate this place and _threw me into a Grimm infested forest_ you managed to locate it?! How the fuck?! You better expla-!”

From behind, Bleu felt a firm hand place him back in the seat with great force. Turning his head Bleu saw the brown beard of his Sargent, not looking directly at Bleu as he held him in place. Ozpin sighed as Bleu turned his attention back to the monitor.

“Bleu, please, I was getting to that.” Taking a sip from his mug, Ozpin continued on. “When Bleu came to my office the night before the examination, I told him that he was tasked with finding out about Project Hades Gauntlet, and whosoever was in possession of the weapon, as well as locating the base in which the weapon was being engineered. They weren’t always located here in the forest, so this was a good opportunity to attempt at catching them.”

Ozpin waved a hand once again, and the monitor showed an image of the gauntlets themselves, excluding Carmine’s arm, within a facility surrounded by engineers probing it with various tools. “Carmine here was Subject-173 of the Project Hades Gauntlet, as in he is the 173rd person to run through the experimentation.” The students beside Carmine suddenly turn their heads to look at him, while he attempts to not look back in shame. “And while we don’t know many details about specifically what they do to the subjects, we know that all other ones before the current ones have died from the experiments.”

The screen flashes with a wave, pictures of various corpses littering landscapes are scattered across the screen, a few locations familiar to the students. Carmine could hear Lilac gag at the sight, and Auburn shift in her seat uncomfortably.

“All we know is that those gauntlets Carmine wore previously were meant to aid with the genetic modifications made to your body.” Ozpin turned to address the odd eyed student directly this time. “Carmine, your semblance is enhanced metabolism, correct?” Carmine, although shocked at the reveal of how much Ozpin truly knows about him, nods in affirmation. “Carmine’s body produces 50% more blood per minute on average than an average human being. It also digests 50% faster, processes energy 50% faster, ad etcetera.”

The screen flashed once again to show the gauntlets Carmine previously wore. Ozpin continued.

“The gauntlets solidified your blood into a metallic substance that is stronger than Yulinium, the metal we commonly make weapons from, by at least three-fold. And since you constantly produce a surplus of blood for your body, Carmine, Nova Science saw an opportunity in you were 172 others have failed before.”

“Then why did they break off when I flared?”

For the first time in what felt like eternity, Carmine spoke up. The entire room had his attention, without fault. Ozpin waved a hand across the screen without breaking eye contact with Carmine once. “Because your body naturally makes it into metal now, I’m afraid.”

The screen now showed a picture of the gauntlets on the forest floor, where Carmine left them, covered in blood and dirt. Without another word, Ozpin waved another hand and the screen flashed to show a live feed from a security camera in a darkened room, the pair of gauntlets being held behind a glass screen door surrounded with electricity.

“Those gauntlets modify your body over time to naturally produce the metal, and assist the production later into the modifications. The gauntlets themselves do not convert the blood into metal, Carmine. We have kept them inside a vault, however, for safe keeping after they broke off you.” Ozpin took another sip from his mug before continuing on.

“Anyone is able to wear the gauntlets and potentially gain your abilities for a short time before their blood supply completely runs dry, hence why you’re handling the excessive blood loss much better than your average Hunter ever could.”

With a huff, Carmine crosses his arms and leans back in his chair. He looks to Ozpin with scared confusion written across his face, despite the fact that he was trying to mask it. “So, you’re saying I’m already past the point of no return? I’m just their freak now?”

With a click of his fingers, Ozpin raised the rollers that one covered the windows and allowed sunlight to enter the office. The four students groaned in protest as the light assaulted their eyes, while the professors stood to attention. Ozpin calmly walked back into his chair as the holographic monitor fizzled out of existence.

“No, and that is why I have called you all up here.”

From behind, Carmine heard the footsteps of the doctor and Ms Goodwitch, walking closer to the team of Hunters. Ernest was already behind the students holding down Bleu, who now seemed calmer than before, but confused all the same. The entire team all seemed confused at the headmasters actions, actually.

“I’m here to make you an offer, Carmine.”

The professors gathered around the sides of the desk Ozpin sat at, Ernest finally removing his hand off of Bleu and greeting the students with his face. Glynda stood to the immediate left of the headmaster, Azure to the right, and Ernest to the right of Bleu.

“Stay here at Beacon Academy, Carmine. Train with us, grow stronger, and assist us in taking down Nova Science and stopping them from ruining the lives of countless others.”

Carmine heard Lilac squeal, Auburn laugh, and Bleu smack a hand to his knee in disbelief at the proposition. The black-haired teen merely shrugged and raised an eyebrow. Ozpin didn’t miss a beat. “I know you want to take them down as much as I do for what they did to you, Carmine. If you hadn’t of broken out they would have attempted to condition you and make you their puppet. A weapon of war and destruction.”

Carmine nodded in agreement. ‘ _I’m going to find them and make them pay. If Ozpin is willing to help...’_

“I’ll agree, under one condition.”

Ozpin nodded and Carmine continued.

“I want information on a certain person who is attending Beacon.”

_‘...Summer.’_

Ozpin nodded once again and waved a hand to Azure. “Lead him away somewhere private, Azure. Tell him everything you know and, when you’re done, show him where he can access the student information files. He has free reign.”

As Carmine stood, the rest of his team followed suit and Ozpin held a hand out to Carmine, which the student gladly took and gave a firm shake.

“From this day forward, Team BLAC and Beacon Academy will make a joint effort to hunt down the remnants of Nova Science Inc.” Carmine nodded and smiled at Ozpin, genuinely for the first time, and looked to his teammates. Auburn gave a toothy smile, Lilac was giving him a thumbs up, and Bleu had his arms crossed and was giving Carmine a nod. Ozpin released his grip on Carmine and held his hands behind his back.

“Keep our activities to yourselves, and go get ready for your first class, and await any further instruction from me.” Lifting a finger, Ozpin gave the four a little smile. “9am sharp. Better get to it.” With a wave of his hand, Ozpin called Azure over to them wordlessly. Team BLAC followed Azure out the doors of the headmaster’s office and through the hallways of Beacon.

Eventually the group reached the dormitories where they will sleep. Students filled the hallway as they all attempted to move their belongings and organize space within their rooms. Lilac waved to Jaune as he was carrying a large cardboard box, which distracted him for long enough to allow the smaller girl behind him to shove into him. Lilac winced as the blonde was crushed under the weight of the box.

Azure directed them to Room 220, which was about two doors down from the one where Lilac saw Jaune carrying boxes into. As Lilac walked in with Bleu and Auburn following behind, she waved goodbye to Carmine as Azure lead him back down the way they entered the dormitories. An uneasy look plastered Carmine’s face, but he was determined to discover as much as he could about his predicament.

Finally turning to observe the room given to them, Lilac was shocked to see how well made the rooms were for the students. Four beds lie next to each other under a massive window, separated by a small end table with two drawers each. A door to the right of the entrance lead to their own bathroom, and to the left was two desks along the walls for studying. Bookshelves lined the walls above the beds next to the window and a small ceiling fan remained motionless above. The teams bags had already been brought up for them while they spoke to the headmaster, a bag sat at the ends of each bed save for one, which had what appeared to be a large iron box with a lock attached to it.

Lilac was about to take a deep breath and address the teammates currently occupying the room before a small ginger bounced her way past and landed on top of the bed to the farthest right of the room. Auburn giggled as jumped on the bed and cuddled up in the sheets with joy.

Rolling her eyes at the antics of her teammate, Lilac turned to face Bleu as he closed the door to their room. Before she could get the chance to make a big speech about being Team Leader, Bleu was the first to speak up. “So I’m assuming that the metal box in front of the first bed belongs to Car. And speaking of which, we need to talk about him.” Lilac tilted her head a little to the side in confusion as Auburn merrily laughed inside her blanket. “Car? And what do you mean?”

Bleu strode past Lilac and landed on the bed next to the one with the locked box, which had all his bags at the end of it. Lifting a knee up to his chin and resting his foot on the bed Bleu nodded. “Yeah, Car. You know, Carmine. Anyway, are we all cool with what just happened in that office? Because he never asked us, and I need to know from you two if you’re cool being a part of this.”

Lilac was honestly shocked at how Bleu was taking charge of the situation. She was about to ask the same question Bleu just did. The purple haired girl nodded to the Faunus, who looked towards the small bundle of blankets and sheets currently occupying the last bed, which was bobbing up and down in a nodding motion. Bleu sharply nodded and gave Lilac a smile. “Good, cause honestly this is kinda fun.”

Auburn managed to spare a minute of her fun to poke her head out and nod her head as well. “Yeah! It’s like we’re actual Hunters instead of students! We’ve been given a mission to track down bad guys, how cool is that?!”

Smiling once again at the words of the innocent redhead, Lilac sat down at her designated bed and stretched her limbs across it, resting the palms of her hands behind her head and staring at the ceiling. “It is pretty cool, although I’m worried about Carmine.” Rolling on her side and looking towards Bleu she notices that he too was lying back staring at the ceiling.

“How would you feel if you were ripped from your home and family to become someone’s lab rat?”

Bleu didn’t move, but spoke with a firm voice.

“What about the 172 other people before Carmine, Lilac? We’re fighting for them and for any future possible subjects, not just Carmine. Remember that.” Bleu rolled over to his side and faced Lilac with a sad look. “But I get what you mean. Poor guy must be having a pretty horrible time trying to comprehend all this.” Lilac nodded and turned herself back to face the ceiling.

“Did anyone else notice how Professor Ozpin said projects? As in more than just the one Carmine was a part of?”

In her peripheral vision Lilac saw the two heads of her friends nod. Jumping up from her bed, Lilac stood in front of the door to their room and properly addressed her teammates. A determined look was in her eyes as she spoke to Bleu and Auburn, she had their undivided attention.

“If one project had 173 subjects, can you imagine how many the other projects must have?!” Lilac raised a hand to her chest and smacked it there once and held it there. “I refuse to let these people capture innocent Remnants and experiment and torture them so they can become weapons of destruction for their own personal gains! Who’s with me?!”

Auburn jumped up from her sheets and stood to attention at the foot of her bed, looking just as serious as Lilac did. Bleu smiled from his sitting position on the bed and slowly stood up to speak. “Whatever you say, Team Leader.”

Lilac smiled genuinely and held her hands to her hips, walking over to one of the tables across the room. Papers and pencils already littered the wood, Lilac just assumed Ozpin had given the team extra supplies in preparation. Taking one of the scattered pieces of paper and a pencil, Lilac began writing up a document.

“As Team Leader of BLAC, the first order of business we have to clear up is who we are and what can we do in combat.” Written on the paper was the names of each team member, starting with Lilac and going on with Bleu, Auburn, and finally Carmine. Tapping her pencil to her mouth, Lilac spoke as Auburn and Bleu approached from behind to look over at the document. “We can organize combos and strategize better if we know what we’re all working with.”

“This just isn’t for class, either. If we’ll be going on actual missions and such, I expect us to work cohesively as a team. So, I reckon we all start with our names, semblances, weapons, ad etcetera. It’ll also get us a good idea of our strengths and weaknesses for each other.” Lilac turned her head to face the two as best she can.

“Say for example I see a Grimm hounding down on Auburn. I know she’s a good shot but probably not the best at close quarters, so I’d need to go and help her out a bit.” Auburn nodded silently as the Faunus repositioned his hat and held a hand to his chin. “That’s a smart idea, considering I’m willing to bet money Ozpin wants to send us into that place Carmine escaped from soon enough. We better be ready.” Lilac nodded and began writing down her own information.

The team shared their own abilities between one another and, over the course of two hours, they were well acquainted with each other’s abilities. Lilac’s semblance allows her to modify her own hearing selectively, as well as change the way her voice sounds if she wished it. (“Sorry for blowing your ears out, Bleu!”)

Their blue haired friend apparently had a semblance that gives him a sort of enhanced sense of whatever is happening around him, for example if someone tried to throw a punch at the back of Bleu’s head he would be aware of it in time to dodge.

Bleu waved a hand in the general direction of his partner from the desk chair. “Auburn, Ozzy said you could flare your aura? What the heck does that mean?” The ginger in question shrugged as she sat cross legged on the floor, rocking back and forth. “Not sure. Ever since I was a kid I could kinda make my Deadeye semblance stronger for short bursts of time. I didn’t know what I was doing was considered special or anything. It just made my aim go from “Very likely to hit” to kinda “Wherever you’re currently pointing at is likely gunna result in somethings death”.”

Lilac, who was lying down on her back with Auburn on the floor, sat up and shrugged. “If you don’t know its fine, Professor Ozpin said he would let Carmine explain. I figured that meant he knew you had no clue, either.”

It was late into the evening when the trio of friends decided to go and search for the mess hall. None of them had eaten a single bite since the examination began, and the night before they had already exhausted their ration supply they brought with them. Tired of waiting for Carmine to reappear, they walked the grounds of Beacon where students of all shapes and sizes were walking around, either exploring the new grounds or just walking through old ones.

“So, where do you think Carmine went off to after talking with Azure?” Lilac shook her head at the blue haired student’s question, Auburn simply skipping along as they walked. “I don’t know, I hope he’s okay though. I don’t know what he must be feeling after all that was sai-“

As the three turn a corner around the dormitories, Lilac saw something that shocked her enough to stop talking.

Firstly, Carmine currently had his hand smashed into the side of the building with _someone’s head_ underneath his grip. Secondly, a Faunus girl with rabbit ears was currently sitting on the ground with her hands covering her chest protectively. And finally, the man underneath Carmine’s grip was bleeding excessively.

His blood smeared the side of the wall and dripped into his shirt as he just stood there, Carmine’s hand firmly planting the side of his head into the wall. Clearly annoyed at the lack of damage done, Carmine angrily pulled back and shoved his head even further into the bricks, Lilac noticing that her teammate’s right arm was currently covered in his chains.

 

* * *

 

Carmine and Azure were currently in the same medical ward used to treat Bleu’s injuries. There was at least five beds suited for injured students to recuperate, and a small desk near the door for Azure herself to sit and review documentation of the students. As she pricked Carmine’s finger for a small blood sample and placing it under a microscope, she spoke about what she knew.

“Right, let’s get into the thick of it. Firstly, is that if you hadn’t already noticed but aura flaring drains your own supply of blood faster than your semblance can reproduce it. If you noticed when you did it in the forest earlier, it kinda forces you to expell all your metal at once, _then_ begin producing it. Although it would take you probably an hour of flaring until you even got close to dying, you begin feeling a bit bloodthirsty. Hence why you have a ‘hunger’ when you flare. So be cautious of that, with time you can hone it.”

Pulling herself away from the microscope and giving a ‘not bad’ look, she turned her head to the piece of paper to her side and began taking notes. Carmine sat in the chair next to her watching her perform various tasks as she spoke.

“Secondly, is that according our sources besides your own project, there are other projects under Nova Sciences grip. All of them involve human experimentation of varying degrees, and yes they are possibly as strong as or stronger than you. We will be tracking them down and freeing them from Nova Science as soon as possible. In the event that they are currently alive, that is. Pass the stapler, please.”

As Carmine reached over and handed Azure the stapler she requested, a thought occurred to him.

“What do you mean ‘as strong or stronger’?”

Stapling the paper together and grabbing a new stack, Azure reached out and grabbed Carmine by the wrist as she examined the slits in his wrists where his metal comes from.

“Carmine, I’m not sure why I have to explain this, but you are literally a bio engineered _weapon_. As in your body is designed to kill. And is therefore, potentially powerful. With proper training, you will no doubt exceed the capabilities of any student who has walked these halls. I promise you that.” Tapping the metal inside the slits, Azure hums in thought as she reached for her scroll and began tapping away a message.

“Thirdly, the reason we have access to all this information is because for the longest time we’ve had a mole within NSI, and funnily enough she was the one that tipped us off about the location of the base you were holed up in.” Putting her scroll away, Azure continues examining Carmine’s unique weapon. “The messages take forever until they get to us and back, and extremely cryptic to avoid suspicion. But from what we could tell she was also the one who helped you get out.”

The teen fidgeted under the doctor’s touch, who could clearly see the metal moving within his veins as she spoke further. Slapping his arm gently, Azure smiled as she looked up at Carmine and relinquished his hand.

“Finally, I just messaged a friend of mine. She’s a great designer and I doubt you want to walk around with literal slashes in your arm with metal poking out of them, so I’m having her come up in about an hour to come and see what can be done. Free of charge. You got that, tough guy?”

With a nod, Carmine stands up from his seat and walks towards the door. “Alright, I’ll head out and check the place out while I’m waiting. How long will they take to get here?”

“Look, come back in an hour and she’ll be here ready to design you something. While you’re gone, check out the chest we left for you in your dorm room, it’s full of school supplies and other miscellaneous crap. I’ll write the room number down for you.”

With a wave goodbye and a piece of paper in his hands, Carmine strode through the hallways of the academy with only one single thought recurring through his mind.

_‘I’m gunna make NSI fucking squeal for what they’ve done to me. How long have they been using me like a bloody lab rat? Months? Years? I’m going to ask Azure when I go back.’_

These thoughts bugged the blood bender as he walked the grounds of Beacon Academy, looking up into the twilight sky. He was on the outside walls of the dormitories by now, trees along the side swayed in the breeze as he walked. It was a calming serenity. The biting cold of the coming night and the darkened sky both reminders of Atlas to Carmine. With a grunt, Carmine slams a fist into the wall next to him with little force, not even enough to crack a single brick.

_‘That fact doesn’t concern you? About how long it’s been?’_

_‘The only thing that concerns me is what happened to Summer and my parents in that time.’_

“Hey, you okay there?”

Startled from his thoughts Carmine looked to see someone sitting on a bench on the other side of the path he was walking through. She was giving him a concerned look through her long brown hair, patting the bench next to her for him to come and sit down.

“You look like you need a bit of a rest, mate.”

_‘What an odd accent.’_

Without really thinking more about it, Carmine walked over and sat with his hands between his legs and his head down. He could hear her shift and turn so she was facing him with an arm rested against the bench to hold her chin up.

“So, what’s the story? Or you not willing to talk?”

_‘Why am I still sitting here?’_

“Just a big day.”

_‘I could leave at any time.’_

“Eh, I know that feeling. Our team was busy all day takin’ care of Goliaths near the border of Vale, and when we thought we could catch some shut eye a friend called us over for a favour, well specifically called Coco over I guess.”

_‘…This is nice.’_

Carmine finally looked up at his new friend and noticed something he didn’t catch onto before; she was a Faunus. Specifically, a bunny eared one. Carmine guessed his surprise was translated into his face as the girl blushed and turned away.

“Ever seen a rabbit Faunus before?”

Carmine shook his head and rubbed a hand to his wrists. “Not really, no. I’ve got a friend who is a wolf Faunus but other than that, I can’t really say I’ve met a lot.”

It was true, back in Atlas Faunus normally tried to hide themselves in public due to the excessive racism posed by the general public. Carmine hardly saw any when he was wandering through Atlesian towns. The rabbit Faunus before him smiled when he mentioned he was friends with Bleu, however. She kept her gaze away from his eyes, though.

“What’s your friend like? How long have you known ‘em?” Carmine laughed, which brought the girls attention back to him. “We met literally today, and we forged a team during the examination. So, no I haven’t known him for long.” A look of realization dawned on the girl as she opened her mouth in an ‘Oh’ face. “So you’re a first year? How exciting for you, yeah?”

The two chatted on for what felt like hours, and they discovered more and more as they spoke. Her name was Velvet, she was a third year student, and she was travelling around Remnant with her team CFVY on jobs for Beacon as their assessment to move on to their fourth year. Carmine, for some reason, absolutely loved the small social interactions he was having with people the past few days. Just talking about whatever comes to mind.

_‘I suppose being locked up in a facility for years would make you crave human interaction.’_

“So, how’s Beacon for you? Meeting your expectations?” Carmine laughed, one of many times with his talks to the bunny eared woman. “I didn’t exactly come here expecting anything, Beacon sorta came to me in a way.”

“How so?”

Taking the deepest breath he could muster, Carmine leaned back in the bench and looked up into the night sky, simply staring at the little lights that danced up high.

“It’s a long story.”

“Velvet-Fucking-Scarletina. How are you on this fine night?” Snapping his head up, Carmine saw an orange haired man walk up to them, a bit of swagger in his step as he strode right up to the side Velvet sat at. The Faunus girl clearly uncomfortable at this new presence, Carmine could practically taste the alcoholic smell coming off of the first year. “You left our celebration party earlier, my little bunny. C’mon back, we won’t poke fun at you anymore.”

“What do you want, Cardin? Don’t you have other people to bully, mate? You been here a day and you can’t help but make an arse of yourself. I fucked off from the party for a reason, leave me alone.” ‘Cardin’ feigned shock, holding a hand to his chest as he backed up a step away from Velvet. “You hurt me with your words, I don’t ‘bully’ people. This isn’t high school, my precious little bun.” Cardin reached a hand forward as he said this, attempting to grab one of Velvet’s ears. Within a few seconds, Carmine grabbed his hand and flipped him across the bench and onto his back, an audible crack in the stone of the pathway when he landed.

“What the hell?! Who do you think you are?!”

Cardin jumped up from the ground to face Carmine, who was advancing towards his target with anger flooding his vision. “Sorry, but Velvet clearly doesn’t want to deal with your shit.” Stopping just inches from their faces meeting, Carmine met his challenge with determination. Cardin didn’t back down, however.

“I thought that bitch Coco was the only one who stood up for her, when will you people learn that Velvet belongs to me?!”

More angered than confused by this outburst, Carmine willed his chains to cover both his arms, flexing his muscles as he did so. Cardin stepped back as he saw the metal forge around his limb, and Carmine heard Velvet gasp behind him. The man shook his head and composed himself in the face of the current danger, Carmine could swear he almost saw froth gather in the corners of his mouth.

“Get out of my way!”

Cardin attempted to throw a punch at Carmine, and as he did the metal repositioned itself to where the fist would land, on Carmine’s cheek, and as it impacted the sound of shattered bones reverberated through the metal.

Carmine didn’t let him recover from the pain, reshaping the metal around his arms Carmine grabbed Cardin by the hair and dragged him over to the brick wall of the dormitories, and proceeded to smash his face into the side of the building without mercy.

Out the corner of his eye, Carmine could see some people turn the corner and see the crime being committed, but he could care less.

“Respect!”

Carmine pulled back a little further to smash Cardin’s face in that much harder.

“Velvet’s!”

Carmine threw him to the side and back onto the pathway, blood smeared all over his body as he backed away from Carmine, fear stricken across his face. The bloodied teen smashed a foot down onto Cardin’s chest as he leaned forward and yelled down into his face.

“Decision!”

One final blow to the chest with his foot, Carmine stood off of Cardin and watched as he curled into a ball and quiver in pain. The sound of sobbing could be heard clearly from the fallen warrior.

Auburn, Lilac, and Bleu stormed forward and the team leader grabbed Carmine by the shoulders and began shouting at him, reprimanding him for what he did. However, Carmine couldn’t hear anything she was saying. All he could hear was the blood pumping through his veins and the sound of his heartbeat.

_‘…not again. I’m not going to stand by and let people be treated like that again.’_

A memory flooded his mind as he clenched his fist much tighter, blood dripping out from his closed hand.

It all stopped when he felt someone grab his hand gently. Like when Lilac did before in Ozpin’s office, except with much more care. Carmine was still unused to this feel, but when he turned he saw it wasn’t Lilac grabbing him.

Velvet wasn’t alone, anymore. As she was grabbing his hand, which was surprisingly soft, Carmine noticed that behind her stood an absolute _mountain_ of a man, a dark skinned red headed man, and a tall woman wearing glasses, who was currently leaning down and examining Cardin. She flung herself back up and made a “Whoo!” noise as she did so, walking over to Carmine and Velvet as she let go of his hand.

“You did this, tough guy? Hell, what a job you did to him.”

The new woman lowers her glasses as she sizes up Carmine with her eyes.

_‘…um what is she doing.’_

The brown coated woman walks circles around Carmine as she examines his body, making him feel slightly uneasy but didn’t stop her.

“Damn, you is fine honey. No wonder you beat down that asshole easily.”

Carmine has never blushed in his life.

Nope.

Not ever.

“The name is Coco, and I’m willing to bet your name is Carmine? Not many people have metal poking out of their body. I’m the chick Azure called up.”

Carmine only now noticed that his arms were still surrounded in his metal. After retracting the mass of blood metal into his wrists, Coco made an “Ooh!” sound at the sight.

“Well, wouldya look at that? Eh, Fox did you see that?”

The man Coco called Fox scoffed next to the other man beside him. “Yeah, fuck you too Coco.”

Smiling as she turned her attention back to Carmine, Coco held her hands to her hips as she backed away to join the rest of her team, not breaking eye contact as she did so.

“The names are Coco, Velvet, Yatsuhashi, and Fox. We’re team CFVY. And I believe I have a job regarding you, Mr Thorte.”

She raced forward and grabbed Carmine by the hands, smiling as she raised her glasses back up to cover her eyes.

“Time for a makeover, sweetie.”

 

* * *

 

_Deep within the Atlesian town of Litchtonne, there was a park with a forest that not many people visited, especially during the hours currently. A rather tall, black haired girl was walking through the park to get to the local café and enjoy a cup of coffee. The Atlesian winters were cruel, and she was walking home from her classes._

_Covered head to toe in winter clothing suitable for these nights, a long scarf adorned her neck with the thick black woollen coat she wore, as well as the thick brown pants she wore. She was very comfortable as she walked through the snow covered park that she loved to sit in and have her moments._

_She decided to sit on a bench along the pathway within the small open forest. She took a deep breath and inhaled the scent of coffee from the cup she held in her hands. She enjoyed the peace offered to her in these small moments where she didn’t have to worry about her studies, or her future. It was a calming relief to sometimes just forget about her troubles. Closing her eyes after taking a small sip of coffee, she relished the thought of feeling like this and cherished it._

_“Hey, Summer.”_

_She smiled at the familiar nickname given to her by a specific family in Atlas. Without opening her eyes she shifted across the bench to allow the new voice to sit._

_“Hey, Carmine.”_

_The fifteen year old sat down beside his best friend as she took another sip. Carmine wasn’t wearing as much thick clothing as Summer currently wore. All the young man had to keep warm was a single red jacket, one he would continue to wear for the coming future._

_“How’s things? Study getting to you?”_

_Summer made an “ugh” noise as she finally made eye contact with the man beside her._

_“Getting to me is an understatement. For Oum’s sake, Carmine, if I wasn’t so determined to get into Beacon then I would be lying back at home, or chilling in your parent’s spare room with you reading books. Speaking of which, why are you here? You don’t look so warm.”_

_Carmine chuckled in his jacket as he wiggled it around. “Semblance, remember? I’m not that cold. And besides, I just wanted to see you.”_

_Summer smiled as she rested her head against her friends shoulder, taking her mind back to the serenity she felt before Carmine came along._

_“I missed you, Carmine.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll keep feeding information on Summer lil' by little.


	9. War of the Forest, Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 'War is coming, and you're going to need all the Hunters you can get.' - Professor Ozpin addressing the High Council

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait times, I'm dealing with some heavy stuff right now and needed a bit of time to think carefully about the chapter, especially the next one. I want it to be perfect for you lot who read this mess.  
> Hope you enjoy this nonetheless! Feedback is always appreciated.

“So, you guys came to Beacon after completing a mission in Southern Vale, and discovered the party that Winchester was holding in the dorms?"

Teams CFVY and BLAC were currently inside the dormitory room of the first-year team. The chair from the studying desk was now in the middle of the room, with Carmine sitting on it. Coco was walking around without her glasses and examining every inch of the student in front of her, taking measurements and lifting limbs to see what she was working with, adding numbers to her mental bank she kept for her clientele.

Fox nodded at Lilac’s question, the two currently leaning against the desk and discussing what had happened earlier to trigger Cardin into attacking as he did. Lilac was fiddling with Crossfade in her arms as she listened to Fox’s retelling of the events, often striking chords and adding an atmosphere to the room. Auburn was sitting in her bed with Bleu lying down on it behind her, Velvet was sitting on Carmine’s bed attempting to open the massive chest at the foot of his bed as he had asked her, and Yatsuhashi was currently barricading the door with his body, arms crossed and prepared for any interruptions.

“We thought we could chill and just hang out, maybe get a little buzzed before conking off to bed for the night.” Velvet chimed into the conversation as she finally managed to open the chest for Carmine, who muttered a quick ‘Thank you’ to the Faunus, to which a slight blush appeared on the rabbit eared student. As the musician of the room continued tinkering with the chords on Crossfade, Fox continued his story.

“Eventually Cardin and his team went a little overboard. They got outright wasted during the party and started picking fights with just about anyone that looked at them funny. Our poor velveteen bunny had enough with the commotion and decided to take a walk to calm herself. We all decided to give her space until we saw Cardin went for a walk himself, then we began tailing him.”

Although he lacked vision, Fox nodded in the general direction of where he assumed Carmine was seated and surrounded by Coco as she rummaged through her handbag. “Thankfully, your friend here was around to kick Cardin’s ass into the ground. Nice job on that, by the way.”

Carmine winced as Coco brought out a small box of needles and some cloth. They hadn’t touched him yet, but he hated the sight. “Yeah, no sweat. I wasn’t gunna sit around and let someone like Velvet get bullied.” The Faunus in question blushed at his words once again, although no one in the room paid much attention to what the bunny was doing so it went under the radar.

The fashionista held out a large piece of circular plastic and began work on shaping it to what she needed, before putting her two Lien into the conversation. “Honey, I don’t think you understand how grateful I am that you were there to protect my little bunny.” Velvet blushed for the third time that night.

“Seriously, I don’t know if I could help myself from strangling anyone who would even dare harm someone as sweet as my Velvet.” As Coco wrapped the plastic around Carmine’s wrist to test for measurement, she pulled it away and continued adjusting it with some special tools Coco brought with her. “Hell, I’m surprised you even carried the poor man to Dr Azure after the pounding you gave him.”

The black-haired teen shrugged as Coco brought the plastic back to his wrist, seemingly satisfied with the result she pulled it back and began working the cloth into it. Carmine turned his neck around and looked to Velvet as she was fishing out things from the chest. Noticing his gaze, Velvet began listing the things she had found.

“Okay, so. You got your standard stuff in here. Text books, notebooks, pencils, paper, a case, and so on. You say Ozpin gave you this chest when you arrived?” Carmine nodded as a chorus of jealousy came from Team CFVY. Coco laughed as she strapped the accessory she had been working on around Carmine’s wrist. “You’re lucky, Honey. Not many of us can say they got free school supplies from the headmaster. Oum knows I wasted Lien into that kind of crap.” A collective nod travelled around the room, even from Carmine’s own team. Velvet continued her discoveries listing.

“There’s also a scroll here, standard issue for students who didn’t previously have one. You got a bright red one, by the way.” Velvet tossed the device onto Carmine’s lap, and indeed it had bright red edges to it. He would pick it up if it weren’t for the fact that Coco now had his hands in her own, working on the piece she was busy with.

“And there’s a bunch of clothes in here as well, although they look standard issue to hell and back, and-“

“Hold up, excuse me?”

The designer now tore herself away from her work on the bracelet now adorning Carmine’s wrist and over to the chest, the boy in question using this time to place his scroll inside his pocket. Coco took one look inside the massive chest before making a noise of pure disgust at what she saw inside.

“Look at this!”

Pulling out from deep in the chest, Coco held up a set of what appeared to be grey t-shirts and shorts, kept folded up and in sets of four in vacuum sealed bags. Coco shook her head, each motion making a ‘tsk’ noise, before tossing the clothing out the open window of the room. Strutting back to Carmine, she leaned down and patted his knee as she retook possession of his arm and continued her work.

“Honey, you are not wearing _that_ garbage. Auntie Coco is going to take good care of you, okay? I am going to make you an entire wardrobe, free of charge. No one should have to wear that trash, not under my watch.”

Carmine never blushes. But he does look extremely surprised and very honoured to be in the good books of such a talented woman like Coco. With a genuine smile, Carmine nods to the fashionista. “Thanks a lot, Coco. I appreciate it.” Coco smiles lightly as she finishes putting the small accessory together. Taking a step back and allowing Carmine to stand, she admires her own handiwork as does the entire room.

Carmine’s wrists had two fairly thick black bracelets covering them. They had small clips which allowed them to come off easily enough, and underneath the plastic and fabric was a variety of slits for his chains to exit out from, two of which were very noticeable on each that were directed up towards his shoulders on the outer shell. Lifting the pieces to his face Carmine noticed that there were engravings in the plastic of the right bracelet. They read _‘With love, from Coco, Velvet, Yatsu, and Fox’_.

“So, what do you think? Anything you would like me to change?” Carmine looked up to the brunette and shook his head, the smile on his face still wide. “Thank you so much, Coco. They’re amazing.” Holding her hands to her hips and nodding, Coco smiled with confidence. “Good to hear. I will get to work on the other clothes soon, but why did you need clothing from Ozpin in the first place? You homeless or something, Honey?”

The Atlesian was about to open his mouth and respond ‘no’, but the thought sticks with him as he realized his current situation. Away from Atlas and his family, no money to his name, and no knowledge of where he was. He quickly realized that technically, Carmine was indeed homeless currently. The realization dawned on him and sunk into his stomach like a 10kg weight, making him feel uneasy and almost sick, like he was about to vomit at the thought.

As Coco took the second chair and sat on it, she turned and noticed how Carmine had reacted to her question, it was extremely clear that he was uncomfortable with her question to everyone in the room. Giving him a concerned look she immediately shot up and grabbed him by the shoulder comfortingly, looking very anxious that she made someone feel this way with her words.

“Oh, Honey, I am so sorry I didn’t mean to upset you.” Carmine waved a dismissive hand as he leaned back in his chair and looked up to her. “No, no. It’s fine, Coco. Seriously. I...” He took a second to swallow the spit that built up in his mouth before continuing. “...I needed to hear that.”

Before the fashion designer could respond, a gasp from Carmine’s bed grabbed everyone’s attention.

Velvet was currently holding up what appeared to be a Lien card and a wallet. What shocked her, and everyone else including Carmine, was its colour. Lien cards could be one of several colours, and each had varying limits to the Lien they could carry. White cards could hold anywhere between 1,000L to 5,000L, green can hold 5,000L to 10,000L, and so on. The order goes white, green, blue, purple, orange, pink, light blue, and finally black. Velvet was currently holding an orange Lien card, which can hold from 35,000L to 50,000L.

“Holy shit, mate! Ozpin is giving you money now? What the heck did you do to get in his good books?” Velvet was laughing as she talked, shocked and yet highly amused at the fact that the headmaster was giving one student all these supplies. Carmine still couldn’t recover his jaw from the ground when Coco slapped his back and brought his attention to her smile.

“Well, you might not have a home but you sure have money, honey.” The room erupted with laughter at the designer’s words, causing Carmine to nod in agreement with the woman while attempting to hold back his laughter. “I suppose not, Coco.”

“And besides Carmine, I have my Lien card.” The room’s attention was brought to Auburn as she fished out her own Lien card, which was Light Blue. No one at all was shocked by this news from the Atlesian rich girl. “If you didn’t have any money, I would have helped in any way I could.” The ginger smiled and tilted her head with a bob of her hair. “We’re friends, after all. We got to look out for each other.”

In that moment, Carmine truly understood just how much support he was getting despite his situation. Sure, he was a science experiment, and a biological weapon, and now a member of a black ops team, but taking a small glance around the room he saw the smiling faces of not only his teammates, but his friends from Team CFVY as well. All of which would do anything to help each other, even if it costed them greatly. Carmine nodded after his sight landed back on Auburn, a small smile still gracing his lips, tears threatened to leave his eyes. “Yeah, we all look out for each other.”

After a moment to calm themselves down from the excitement, the teams said goodbye between each other for the night to get some well-deserved sleep. Carmine thanked Team CFVY once more for all they had done, said goodbye, and closed the door to their room for the night. Turning around, Carmine saw that Bleu and Auburn had already fallen asleep during the time Team CFVY was in their room. Bleu was lying spread eagled on _Auburn’s bed_ while she lay curled up next to his legs.

Holding back a small snicker, Carmine saw Lilac had already placed herself under her blanket and noticed Carmine’s reaction to seeing their teammates in such a compromising position. She waved a hand at the general direction of the two and gave Carmine a ‘so what?’ look.

A whisper escaped her mouth as she tried to not wake her friends. “It’s been a long day, they deserve a bit of rest. And I bet you’re just as tired as they are. Who knows when the last time was you managed to get some sleep and not be drugged out on an examination table.”

Carmine nodded in silent agreement as he crawled into his own bed, giving a moment to briefly look out the window at the night sky above Vale. Lilac saw this and rolled on her side to speak with him directly as he tucked himself in, turning off the lantern next to her bed as she did so. “You really like the sky here, don’t you?”

On his side under the blankets, Carmine nodded to Lilac and looked once more out the window to the starry skies above. “The sky here in Vale is different than what it looks like in Atlas.” Lilac huffed a laugh as she rolled onto her back and looked up out the window herself. “I get that, it looks different here than it would in Vacuo. Especially not as freezing during the nights.”

Her teammate had to feign a look of shock at that comment. “You think Vacuo is cold? Come to me when you experience an Atlesian blizzard, and you still had to go to school, and then you tell me what cold feels like.” The two shared a small laugh between each other as they spoke about their home regions. The talk of Atlas reminded Lilac of a fact that she felt was important. “You know Auburn is from Atlas as well, right?”

This caught Carmine’s attention as he rolled onto his back as well, his heart skipped a beat slightly at the thought of a fellow Atlesian. “No, I didn’t. Maybe tomorrow I can ask her about what’s changed.” Lilac smiled at the thought. “That’d be nice, tomorrow let’s just chill and talk, yeah? Too much hardcore stuff happened tonight.” Carmine nodded in agreement as he closed his eyes for the night and let his sleep carry him away into the night.

For the first time in years, Carmine truly fell asleep.

~

_“His vitals are stable, the medication doesn’t seem to be affecting the modifications, and all seems to be going well.”_

_A small group of scientists stood within a large metallic room deep within Atlas. Machines of all kinds were attached to the walls with lights and sounds flickering on and off. One woman in particular had bright blue hair and wore a visor over her eyes, draped with a white cloak and black shirt, and long white pants. She was holding a clipboard as she examined the teenager before her on the table, taking notes as she compared the current stats to the last experiment._

_Strapped down to the table, with no shirt and only a pair of shorts, was Carmine Thorte. Tubes entered into his nose, mouth, and some went inside his chest through a cavity cut open by the scientists, leading directly into his heart. The organ moved and pumped blood openly in the air of room._

_Taking one look at the monitor before her, it showed Carmine’s vitals were indeed unaffected by the modifications nor the drugs they had injected into him to keep him complacent while they performed the experiment on him, aside from the normal effects they had._

_The woman laughed lightly as she walked around the table, keeping an eye on the fifteen-year old as she did so._

_“It truly is amazing, isn’t it? His semblance is making this so much easier.”_

_The scientists in the room did not acknowledge the words of their superior, minding their own work as she spoke aloud to herself. Turning to face the corner of the room where four workers stood, surrounding a pair of black metallic gauntlets on top of a table. Prodding it with various tools as sparks flew out of it, the lead scientist walked forward and examined the handiwork of the group._

_“Strap it onto him and throw him into the Freakshow. Let him show his worth to the project. Afterwards, if he succeeds begin the implanting process.”_

_“Yes, Ms Rudem.”_

~

The first class was awkward for Carmine, to say the least.

“It is my honour to welcome you to the prestigious halls of Beacon Academy, future huntsmen and huntresses.”

_‘Is he still looking at me.’_

“It is my job to instruct and train you in the art of Grimm slaying, and I will do so with pride!”

_‘I think he’s still looking at you.’_

_‘Yep, he is.’_

“Remnant is absolutely covered in monstrosities of the unknown, and it is up to us to be the guardians of the innocent!”

_‘Is he really still annoyed that I stopped him from harassing someone?’_

Within a large classroom that was a fairly common looking lecture room, Team BLAC was sitting as they took notes from Professor Port on Grimm slaying. While other students seemed bored out of their minds from the speech the beefy professor was giving them, Team BLAC was in their own world. Everyone except Carmine was wearing the standard uniform instead of their casual wear, and Carmine was still waiting on Coco’s offer to come through for extra clothing, which he thanked her for countless times.

Lilac was silently configuring Crossfade for the one hundredth time that morning, Bleu had his feet on top of the bench they were all seated at and picking his nose, and Auburn was actually paying attention to Professor Port as he spoke. She was even taking notes in her notebook for later.

Carmine however was currently in a staring competition with Team CRDL, specifically Cardin himself. The man had bandages across his forehead and had one of his arms bandaged as well from the beating Carmine gave him last night. The stubborn student was attempting to drill a hole through Carmine’s skull with his eyes, but honestly the odd eyed teen wasn’t annoyed that Carmine was angry with him. He was annoyed for different reasons.

_‘The fucker thinks that what he was doing was justified. That he was in the right, and I’m wrong for stopping it.’_

For the first time in half an hour, Cardin looked away from the black-haired teen. Although Carmine didn’t stop with his stare, all sorts of thoughts began clouding his mind.

_‘He has no intention of helping people, then what the hell is he doing at Beacon? Doesn’t he know they’re training us to protect people and not treat them like shit? What a moron.’_

Carmine felt a light tap come from his right as Lilac attempted to gain his attention. As he turned to face her, Lilac whispered to him so she wouldn’t interrupt the professors story. “Is he really that angry at you? What’s his deal?”

Carmine shrugged at his partner, responding with the same level of voice Lilac was using. He attempted to formulated a well thought out sentence, and was using his hands to wave around and try to think of a better way to say his thoughts. Eventually he settled on something to say.

“I think he’s just a cunt.”

The desert dweller couldn’t hold back her laughter from Carmine’s remark, as couldn’t the Atlesian himself. Although Lilac quickly quieted herself, Carmine still had a few giggles he needed to release. Carmine noticed that the team in the row below them was also attempting to keep back their laughter. Unfortunately, this brought the attention of the aged hunter in front of the class. “Is there something funny you would like to share with the class, Mr Thorte?”

Carmine could hardly contain his laughter as he responded to Professor Port. “Nothing, sir. I swear.” He almost kept the laughter back until he looked to the rest of his team, and noticed Bleu and Auburn also struggling to hold back their own laughter, Auburn’s cheeks were filled with air and Bleu was struggling to even smile. This triggered Carmine’s own laughing to reignite, and in turn begin a chain reaction that caused the entirety of Team BLAC and Team JNPR below them to suddenly erupt in laughter.

It took the side of the room a good five minutes to calm themselves down from Carmine’s remark. He even noticed that Professor Port was amused with their antics, but nonetheless had to cease the interruption to continue his lecture. “Moving on, I will now regale you with the tale of the time I single handily saved an entire village from a Lycan Grimm. This story begins a few decades ago...”

Just as Carmine thought he would finally begin paying attention to the professor’s stories, his blue haired friend grabbed his attention with a hushed whisper. “Car, do you reckon Ozzy will let us attack that base they held you in?” Not taking his eyes away from the aged professor in front of the class, Carmine shrugged his shoulders to the serious question. “Doesn’t matter, I’m still going back there and taking it myself if I have to.” Although he couldn’t see the reaction of his team, Carmine imagined there was little surprise to that revelation.

“I don’t know how long those fuckers held me, and I don’t know what they did to me. All that matters is that I get in there and find out. And no one, not even Ozpin can stop me from doing that.” Carmine’s eyes never left the sight of the professor as he spoke, unable to see the reaction from his team. “I need to find out what happened to me.” Outside of his vision, Carmine’s friends looked to each other and nodded in agreement to a silent proposal between the three of them.

“While I’m happy you are enjoying my stories students, we must get on with our class. Actually, I wanted to talk about a Grimm Team BLAC felled in the Emerald Forest.” This was enough to shock the team into paying closer attention to what the professor had to say. “The Luna Beowulf. Although extremely rare, and nowhere near as strong as a Goliath, they are very formidable Grimm to face. And our very own Team BLAC managed to not only take down one of these rare creatures, but to do so while within a large horde of lesser Grimm at the same time. They were a four-man army facing a battle of one thousand demons.”

The entire class stared at the four teenagers as they all looked _very_ anxious that they had the attention of everyone, Cardin included who genuinely looked shocked, but then moved to be extremely angry. The professor waved a hand to a team to the far right of Team JNPR who Carmine remembered to be Team RWBY.

“Of course they weren’t the only team to do something incredible, our own Team RWBY managed to slay a Deathstalker as well as a Nevermore. Although far more common and not nearly as challenging as the feat Team BLAC managed, still a _very_ amazing kill for a first-year team! Even though Team JNPR helped out with the Deathstalker, Team RWBY dealt the finishing blow to the Nevermore with clever ingenuity and teamwork, a fine example of a Hunter Team!” Team RWBY looked very anxious now, sans the white haired one Auburn remembered as Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company. Weiss looked extremely displeased at something besides what’s was currently happening, even disgusted at the thought of it.

“Which is why I would ask of a volunteer from either team to come down and display their combat prowess! I assume each of you got a grade from Professor Eggsbert?” Both teams nodded, remembering the written reports they received on their scrolls describing their combat and any improvements they could make. Everyone remembered the morning before class how Sarge found Jaune in the early hours and began correcting everything Jaune did wrong and how he could improve. Mostly using words like “Maggot” or “Skinny Boy”. Professor Port nodded and turned to the rest of the class.

“Professor Eggsbert’s grading system works like this; Hunter, Grimm Slayer, Badass, Ultimate Badass, and True Hunter.” The professor had to cough into his hands at the word ‘Badass’. He was still a teacher and had to be a role model, even despite Eggsbert’s grading system. “The person on each team with the highest grade could please come down and give a demonstration for the class?”

Team BLAC already had an opportunity to compare grades before the class began. Bleu was an Ultimate Badass, as was Auburn. Lilac and Carmine both received True Hunter, although Carmine’s grade had a ‘+’ assigned to it, which none of them understood. Carmine silently waved to Lilac, making the rocker smile as she leaped up and grabbed Crossfade, then proceeded to walk down to the front of the class. From Team RWBY, the girl in the red hood stood up and walked with a large red box attached to her back to join Lilac and the professor. He nodded as the two of them finally reached the front and wandered off to the far right of the class, hugging the wall.

“Now, I would like Lilac to be the first one. Ruby, please come next to me and allow Lilac some room.” The brunette nodded and walked to the professor, Port continued talking as Ruby walked. “Lilac, please say your grade and then your age.” The purple haired student nodded and spoke clearly and with a straight back, although anxiety clearly evident in her voice. “I was graded True Hunter, and I’m 17.” At the mention of her age the room erupted into a quiet murmur. The professor quickly put a stop to the noise as soon as it came. Raising a hand up and giving a stern look to the students Port addressed the noise. “Settle down, settle down!”

Lowering a hand and smiling, Port looked to Lilac and spoke with genuine surprise. “True Hunter, huh Lilac? My, my. That’s generous of our Sargent. Anytime Sarge grades a student this, they generally leave Beacon as a force to be reckoned with. You must be a very gifted combatant, now I’m excited to see how easily you fair!” Port waved a hand towards the very large and obvious cage that the entire class saw the second they entered the room, and everyone saw it _shake_.

Carmine stole a glance to look at Team CRDL and saw that Cardin himself was visibly shaking with rage, possibly jealous at the rocker. With another glance Carmine looked to Team RWBY and saw they were all very shocked, most notably Weiss.

Port continued talking. “Now, Lilac. You will be fighting an Ursa Major Grimm today for us. If things get too hairy, I’ll interject and stop it but only if you ask me, okay? An Ursa is no laughing matter, let alone an Ursa Major. Understand?” Lilac nodded and readied Crossfade, hanging it by her neck with the strap, aiming the neck at the door of the cage. The professor merely nodded and clicked his fingers, the cage snapping open with great force as he did so.

At first, nothing happened. Darkness swallowed the entire inside of the cage. Lilac was visibly sweating, although stayed her ground ready for anything. At less than a moment’s notice, a large black claw made its way out of the darkness and clung to the sides of the cage. Pulling itself out was a large, muscular Ursa Major. It towered over everyone in the room, nowhere near as much as the Luna Beowulf, but enough to make Lilac scared. It took a look around the room it was now in and noticed all the students seated around. It roared heavily and began moving its way towards them, which caused everyone to sit up in preparation for a fight.

Lilac didn’t waste a moment, pulling out her guitar chip she started riffing a song she came up with on the spot and fired Dust rounds at the offending monstrosity. Catching its attention with both the music and the Dust rounds, it returned its gaze to Lilac and held a claw up to shield itself from the onslaught. It leaped up mightily at Lilac and attempted to crush her under its weight.

Within that slight second, Lilac rolled out from underneath where it was going to land and configure Crossfade into its secondary form. Holding it by the neck and swinging with all her might Lilac clicked in the trigger as she swung her weapon, causing the exhausts on the side of the body to ignite with dust powered flames, giving a much nicer kick as it cleaved through a small section of the Grimm’s leg.

Roaring in pain and rage, it landed on both of its front legs. Turning to face its assailant, it didn’t have enough time to react when Lilac made Crossfade continue with its previous swing into a complete 360, giving it enough weight and force to completely tear through the throat of the large beast.

There was a good 10 seconds of stunned silence from the class before the Grimm fell unto its chest and dissipated into nothing, as all Grimm do. As Lilac was breathing heavily, through her own heart beats she could hear clapping coming from behind her. She turned and stood up with Crossfade resting on her shoulder to see the professor clapping with a large smile through his thick facial hair, while the brunette next to him looked simply shocked, Lilac took a quick glance around the room to see everyone else was equally as shocked, aside from her own team who were smiling at her with pride.

“I expected as much from a True Hunter.”

Professor Port allowed Ruby to show off her own fighting prowess and although not as quickly as Lilac, Ruby did kill the Ursa Major with great ease and finesse. Team BLAC clapped as the red hooded student blushed and took a bow. As Professor Port concluded the class and allowed the students to leave, Carmine felt his pocket vibrate against his leg. Slowing down to a stop just as the doors to the classroom closed behind his team, he pulled out his scroll and read the latest messages.

_“ready to take your measurements, hunny. meet out the front of dorms <3 XOXO – Coco”_

Unable to hide his blush, Carmine’s teammates looked over his shoulder expecting to see a message from Ozpin regarding their attack on the base, but all they saw was the message Coco had left the poor teen. Bleu stepped away and laughed while Lilac shook her head as she placed Crossfade into her carry case on her back.

“Well, looks like you have plans then I guess, eh Car?” As he was about to respond and pocket his scroll, it flashed alive once again and a new message was listed. Carmine sighed and was going to stop Bleu from once again leaning over his shoulder to read the text, before he also received a buzz from his pocket. As did Lilac and Auburn. The four of them pull out their scrolls to read the shared message.

_“Team BLAC is to report to the Headmasters Office in approx. 30 minutes. Don’t be late. -Oz”_

They all looked up at each other at the exact same time before making a beeline straight for Ozpin’s office, and their small ginger friend was giddy as they walked the grounds. “Aren’t you guys excited?! We’re taking on missions and reporting directly to the headmaster! This is like, being a real Huntress!”

The blue haired Faunus ruffled the hair of his ginger friend and laughed as she scrunched her face in discomfort. “Burnie, you lil’ firecracker. You gotta calm down. I mean, yeah I’m excited. But seriously, we gotta keep this on the down-low. Get it?” Bleu punctuated his point by glancing in the direction of a few stray students, who weren’t paying attention to the team, but it helped make his point nonetheless. Auburn nodded and zipped her lips closed with a finger, finishing with a thumbs up.

Auburn tilted her body to talk directly to Carmine as they walked. “Oh yeah Carmine, Ozpin wanted us to explain Aura Flaring to Bleu and Lilac. He said you could probably do it better than me.” Carmine looked in thought as Auburn placed her hands behind her back as they walked. “I guess I could do that.”

As they entered the gardens filled with varying plants and flowers, where less students were walking around or in classes, Carmine decided this was a good time as ever to talk about his technique. “So, you know how your aura can protect and heal you? And your semblance is a kind of extension of your aura being put into a more practical purpose? Well, think of your aura like a battery that fuels your semblance, one that can be overcharged.”

Lilac flipped open the doors to the tower of Professor Ozpins office, and began climbing the stairs upward after confirming who they were with the receptionist. “Eventually, you get a sort of feeling of how to manipulate your Aura around your body. At first it’s pretty handy with helping deal with attacks that hit you in specific spots on your body. For example, you can shift your aura onto your fist as you punch something, give it a bigger kick. Except imagine shifting it physically through your semblance.”

The purple haired musician nodded and then held a hand to her chin in thought. “Sounds real handy, actually. I guess you don’t really need the protective benefits of it cause of your chains.” Carmine nodded as he lifted his bracelets in front of his vision, reading the engravings for the tenth time since he got them. He heard Lilac laugh slightly as she seemed awed by the thought of empowering her semblance.

“Imagine if I could control my hearing to that level! I’d be like a bat!” Bleu laughed as he tapped his chin, looking at Carmine as he spoke. “I guess I’d be super aware of everything? Kinda like clairvoyance? That sounds kinda cool.” Shaking his head and refocusing on the topic at hand, Carmine turned to his team before the door of Professor Ozpin.

“It’s not as great as you may think. Sure, you gain a _huge_ power boost while you do it. But your aura is fully dedicated to overcharging your semblance, so you have zero protective sense when you do it. I wouldn’t recommend using it unless you’re confident you’d be safe while doing it.” Carmine jerked his head in Bleu’s direction as he spoke. “Unless you’re Bleu, in which case you’re fine.” The Faunus gave a toothy smile as Carmine opened the door to Ozpin’s office.

When they arrived, their Headmaster was not alone. A tall man dressed in white, wearing a very formal looking suit stood in front of the desk where Ozpin sat, although he wasn’t aware of the student’s entry into the room. He had dark hair which was greying around the sides, and seemed to be well built. He was currently addressing Ozpin, who saw the students enter but did not make a move to stop the person talking.

“Ozpin, surely you’re joking? Nova Science finally gets one of their bases revealed by our mole and you’re entrusting a team of first years to break in and take it down? That’s a suicide mission!” The headmaster kept his composure as he sipped from his mug. “James, this team is unlike any other I have formed. Together they took down a Luna Beowulf, meanwhile Team RWBY and JNPR took down a Nevermore and a Deathstalker. This year’s students are already showing promise for the future.”

James slammed a hand down onto Ozpin’s desk, creating a visible crack in the hardwood. “They are first years, Ozpin! I will not throw children to the wolves!” Before James could make another argument, Carmine coughed into his hands to alert the presence of his team, forcing James to spin around and greet the students for the first time.

The purple haired leader of Team BLAC smiled and waved as the attention of the entire room was brought to them. “Um, hey? Professor Ozpin said we were to come here?” James scoffed as he stood aside to allow the four students to properly address the professor behind the desk. Ozpin smiled lightly as the four stepped forward. “Yes, welcome team. This is General James Ironwood, hea-“

“Headmaster of Atlas Academy and general of the Atlesian military, holder of two seats on the Atlesian council.” Carmine turned to face the general directly. “A friend of mine studied at Atlas Academy. I know of you, sir.” The general nodded in affirmation to his title. The team returned their attention to the headmaster as he cleared his throat and brought up his monitor. A familiar sight greeted the team as the barricade doors coated in blood appeared on screen.

“I’m sure you’ve already guessed this, but we need you four to help us take the base of operations that was used to modify Carmine into the weapon he is today.” Ozpin lowered his mug onto the desk and shut off his monitor to look the students in the eyes. “As you might have guessed, taking the base will not be easy. Nova Science Inc. have been doing these experiments for a very, _very,_ long time. While some experiments may escape before they can even modify them, they always managed to assassinate the experiment before they could alert authorities. As Carmine is a finished experiment, they couldn’t just send any old assassin after him like they normally do.”

Ozpin stood up and wandered around his desk and stood before the team in his office, a grave expression greeted his features. “I’ll be honest, I have no idea what NSI may attempt to throw at you four when you challenge their base. To my knowledge they have never had to secure their base from a finished project like Carmine. Also, just so you know, our mole left the base before Carmine managed to break out, so don’t worry about accidentally hurting them.”

James stepped forward and held his hands behind his back. “You four will go inside the facility tomorrow morning at 7am sharp, to avoid any time missed from classes. My team of specialists will blow the barricade open and you will rush in and incapacitate anyone you come across, no killing is allowed during this operation unless absolutely necessary.”

The team nodded in agreement, understanding the seriousness of the operation before them. Each of them determined to get back at those who wronged their friend, and many more in the past. Ozpin leaned back on his desk as he folded his arms across his chest. “Also, Carmine. I understand that last night you were too preoccupied to do so, but you forgot to search the student records for that individual you were after?”

A look of realization dawns on the teens face for a brief moment before he shakes his head. “Thank you for reminding me, sir. But I have a feeling they’re not enrolled here anymore.” Raising an eyebrow to this comment, Ozpin leaned forward slightly to properly address Carmine. “Is that so? Well then, if you’re looking for them at any point then just come and ask, Carmine. I will assist you in tracking them down. But, back onto business. I want you four to arrive at the cliff of the forest before 7am, as the general specified. Do you understand what is needed of you?”

“Everything except for one thing, sir.” Ozpin nodded to Auburn as she spoke, giving her permission to speak. “After this, will we be assisting other attacks on NSI bases to free the experiment subjects?” The room went quiet at her question, Carmine was honestly a little shocked at the forwardness of the question. But he shared the same opinion. He wanted to help find other experiments and guide them away from the life they were forced into, and he was especially glad at how direct his ginger friend was with the issue.

“Actually, I’m glad you asked that Auburn. Yes, I have plans in the future for Team BLAC and the B.A.M.F to assist the Atlesian military in finding other projects of NSI and freeing them from their grasp.” The team of students breathed a sigh of relief at the news, causing Ozpin to chuckle slightly in delight. “I assume you four are happy about that? I’m glad you’re all so eager to help these people.” Lilac nodded at the headmasters words. “Yes, sir. I refuse to let people suffer at the hands of these monsters.” Ozpin nodded at those words, a stern look in his eye. “Good, Ms Dawn. Those are true words of a Huntress.”

Professor Ozpin calmly walked back around his desk and took his seat. “Team BLAC, you are dismissed. Expect to see you bright eyed and bushy tailed atop the cliff of the forest by 7am. General Ironwood’s demolition team will take you as far as the barricade, and then they will evacuate. After that, you will be on your own.”

Ozpin calmly takes a sip from his mug as he leans back in his chair with a smile.

“Good luck, students.”

Ozpin waited for the students to leave his office fully before addressing the general once more, although James beat him to the punch.

“Ozpin, I thought you were going to tell Mr Thorte that our mole wasn’t working alone breaking him out?” The headmaster lifted his mug up from the desk and took a long sip from it, not making eye contact with James as he did so. “I think he’s already figured out who he needs to look for, General. I don’t want to add on to that list.”

After the team had retreated out of the headmasters office, they all made the decision to go see Coco with Carmine. When they reached the entrance to the dorms, Coco was indeed standing there alone and waiting for them. Looking up from her scroll and giving a small wave, she began walking towards them before they could reach the doors. Coco happily rushed forward and held Carmine’s hands in her own as she smiled like a champion who won a tournament.

“You have _no_ idea how excited I am to get the chance to dress you up, Honey. Let’s head off!” The team was ready to follow her back up into the dormitories into their room, but Coco veered off the path and towards the transport hub of Beacon. Noticing this, Bleu hesitates for a bit before stopping, Auburn also slowed down behind with the blue Faunus which caused Lilac and Carmine to look back  at their teammates as they walked with the brunette.

“You guys go off ahead, I’m gunna hang back with Burnie and get some homework done from Port.” Bleu and Auburn turned and waved to their leader and her partner as they walked towards the transport hub to travel somewhere within Vale, Coco’s hips swinging as she walked with confidence.

The blue haired menace walked back up to the dormitory room with his red-haired menace of a friend. Bleu turned to Auburn as they reached the stairs to the second floor where their room resided. “So, what do you think of Ozpin’s plan? Reckon it’s pretty solid?” The Faunus was a little shocked to see Auburn shake her head in disagreement.

“Not at all. Breach a barricade hull and then let four students charge forward and unleash hell? That’s the opposite of solid.” She turned to Bleu as they reached their dorm room with the biggest toothy smile she could muster. “But fuck it sounds fun!” Bleu barked a single laugh as he threw open the door to their room and took a look inside when a thought occurred to him.

“Doesn’t the room look a little generic? Shouldn’t we spice things up a little?” His rich friend nodded as she pulled out a notebook from the study desk and looked around inside their fairly large dorm room. “Yeah, I think so too.” She stepped towards Bleu and tapped a pencil once to the notebook with a smile. “While Carmine is getting his own makeover, reckon we should begin our own?” Her Faunus friend nodded as he stepped towards their four beds and gave it a once over, a small smile gracing his lips. “...I have some ideas.”

As Coco and co. arrived at the transport hub and Coco paid for their tickets, Lilac and Carmine couldn’t help but think of where she was dragging them to. The three of them sat within a private area of the shuttle that would take them further into Vale towards wherever it was the designer was taking them. Coco rested her foot on top of her knee as the shuttle pulled away from the building and gained speed, the other two sitting across from the fashionista. Coco kept her eyes focused on the window, or at least they assumed so. Her glasses hid where her eyes were truly looking.

“So, what’s the story honey?”

Carmine was slightly shaken from his mind at those words, his thoughts drifting to NSI and the mission ahead of him. “I’m sorry, Coco?” Coco laughed as she winked to the odd eyed teen and returned her look to the outside world. “What’s your story? Where are you from? What drove you to Beacon? Details, honey!”

Carmine looked to Lilac, who shrugged in response to his silent question of ‘What do I tell her?’. He sighed and looked to the outside with Coco. “Well, I’m from Atlas originally. I studied at Atlas High until I was 17. I didn’t really like it there a lot though.” Coco nodded with a smile, her gaze never leaving the window until she placed her glasses over her eyes. “You had any friends in Atlas?” Carmine nodded. “Only one, but she was a great friend of mine.” Coco ‘ooh’d’ at the mention of a female friend, but allowed Carmine to continue. He laughed at a very particular memory, which he decided to share.

~

_A very young Carmine was walking along the streets of Lichtonne, with his head down and shoulders slumped and a bruise on his cheek as he attempted to walk home as quickly as he possibly could. Small droplets of frozen tears clung to his face as he walked, although he did his best he could not remove them._

_As he ventured into Lichtonne’s park he decided to take a seat at a bench nearby to rest. He had been walking for about half an hour through the Atlesian winter that plagued the town. Hoping to escape a certain group of kids who went to school with him._

_“Are you okay?”_

_Carmine looked up and saw a young girl he recognized from his school, although they never spoke. She had jet black hair and was wearing thick clothing much like Carmine and wore a backpack. She looked very concerned at Carmine’s current state and sat down next to him without another word, pulling out her backpack she grabbed what appeared to be a first aid kit from inside._

_“Hold still, this might hurt a little.”_

_She spent the next few minutes treating Carmine and asking him what happened and who did it. He told her that a guy named Asher and his friends were bullying him, although he was still trying to decipher why she was helping him and why a girl was touching him, his young mind filled with thoughts he did not understand nor wanted to._

_After she was done, she smiled and did something Carmine did_ not _expect. She kissed him on the cheek and giggled._

_“There! All better!”_

_Carmine, in a state of shock, rubbed the place she kissed on his cheek. She merely smiled at him and stood up. “If you’re scared of the bullies do you mind if I walked you home? I don’t want you to get hurt.” He nodded and stood to walk with her._

_“My name is Summer- I mean Qr- I mean Haw-“_

_Carmine was laughing so hard he found it hard to breathe, his small body struggling to walk as he shook with laughter. Falling into the snow below him he smiled as he looked up at her, she was blushing._

_“Summer is my friends name, sorry. I sometimes ramble like that with names.”_

_She offered a hand to help him stand, which he gladly took. “Whatever you say ‘Summer’.”_

_The small girl blushed even harder, a contrast to her jet black hair. The two of them continued on their way to Carmine’s home, him directing the duo as they walked._

_Although, ‘Summer’ forgot to let go of his hand the entire trip._

_~_

By the time the entire story was told, many interruptions occurred along the way. Coco had to visit her local department store and buy extra equipment and fabrics, and then she led them to her home where she and her team lived. Unlike first year Hunter’s, Team CFVY made enough money from their assignments that they could afford a home in Vale. It was there Carmine had another chance to say hello to the rest of the Team, aside from Yatsuhashi who was currently asleep. While Coco took measurements Carmine happily talked with Velvet about whatever was happening within Vale, Carmine making sure to tell Velvet about Cardin during his class, to which she scoffed and dismissed it with the phrase ‘What a dickhead’. Carmine took note that Velvet was extremely comfortable around her friends and team when it came to talking, and he liked that she was equally as comfortable with him.

Lilac was currently hanging out with Fox in his soundproofed room. Instruments of all kinds filled his room. A drum kit sat in the corner, a keyboard piano lay in its open case next to it, and a whole other assortment of musical tools. Although right now, Lilac was solely focused on one in particular that Fox was currently showcasing to her.

“Before my dad died of heart failure, he passed this beauty onto me. I’ve had it now for a good 12 years I reckon.” Fox lightly strummed at the chords on his father’s old wooden guitar alongside Lilac, who was strumming on Crossfade’s chords. She looked enamoured with the guitar presently in front of her, and although she knew Fox couldn’t see the difference between the two instruments, she had a good feeling he knew from the sounds Crossfade made that they were different. He smiled and lifted his head as they both sat on his bed, quietly playing inside their own world.

“So, does Crossfade have a story behind it?” Lilac smiled and then slightly frowned within the same second. “A great Hunter I knew a long time ago built it for me, but he’s...he’s...” She was struggling to speak about Crimson, her great mentor, and his death. She felt a hand touch her wrist as Fox comfortingly soothed her. “I understand.” The rest of their time was spent silently playing various instruments, neither of them needed to speak to the other to explain how they felt. They allowed their music to speak for them instead. Although occasionally, and despite the fact that Lilac knew he couldn’t see, she could feel his gaze go to her.

By the time Coco was done, she had finished making Carmine two sets of casual wear for him within the night. She told him that now she had his proper measurements that she could just send the rest of the clothing his way, although she reminded him to come and visit anyway for a cup of coffee and chat.

“I love talking to you too much, honey. And our little velveteen bunny likes you too, so come by some time okay?” As Lilac and Carmine left for their dorm rooms, they waved back at Team CFVY and boarded the shuttle back to Beacon. When they got back however, their room went through a complete makeover.

Each bed was replaced in some way and each quarter of the room that belonged to the members of the team was stylized for them specifically. Carmine’s bed was now white with blood red edges and appeared to be thicker ‘For that Atlesian skin of yours’ according to Bleu when asked. And there were now shelves above each bed containing some of their possessions, with Carmine’s having a small plush doll of a bunny rabbit ‘To keep that cute bunny in mind’ according to Auburn, to which he blushed and denied everything.

Lilac’s bed was taken out entirely and replaced with a hammock that swung from the bit of wall above the window all the way to the wall above their study desk. In the hammock resides one pillow and one blanket for Lilac. When questioned on the strength of the rope, Bleu affirmed that Sarge helped them set this up which left no question on how reliable the set-up is, Auburn explaining that Sarge was more than happy to help his ‘little badass’. Lilac’s shelf resides slightly in front of the window and along the wall next to Carmine’s, although the main difference was that on her shelf was a large enough space for her to keep any future ‘musician-y things’ in Bleu’s words.

Meanwhile in Bleu’s section it appeared to be an ordinary bed, different from the school issued one but still just an ordinary looking bed. It was brown with a blue blanket on top, explaining that he was just happy to have a choice in where he slept was enough for him to be happy. Sitting atop his own shelf sat a small picture of what his team assumed to be his family and a random assortment of possessions, although Bleu never spoke about the picture and when asked he dismissed it as quickly as he could.

And finally, in Auburns little corner of the dorm room lay what appeared to be the absolute most expensive bed the other three have ever seen. They were able to afford the makeover due to Auburn’s money, so as such she was able to afford the white Atlesian cottoned bed for herself, explaining it made her feel at home. Sitting on Auburn’s shelf resides a large assortment of jewellery, miscellaneous pieces of equipment for cleaning her Huckleberry, and other things that the team dared not question such as a make-up bag and various items related.

It was already very late by the time the duo had completed the dorm room, and the entire team was extremely exhausted by the day’s events. With a very tired goodnight to each other, the team retreated to their respective beds and lay their heads one more time before falling asleep.

No thoughts of tomorrows events plagued their sleep, unaware of the dangers they were leaping into.

Carmine woke in the middle of the night with a shock to his system, a noise coming from the dorm room door. It didn’t sound like a knock, per se, but definitely someone attempting to gain the attention of those in the room. Groggily, the odd eyed teen got up and silently cursed the sound. Walking over to the door and ripping it open as quietly as he could, Carmine kept his eyes closed as he waited for the person who disturbed him to speak.

“Yes, may I help you?”

“Wow, you really haven’t changed.”

Shooting his eyes open, Carmine caught a glimpse of what appeared to be a tall woman wearing a Grimm skull mask, with a copious amount of jet black hair coming out from behind it. Her voice was vaguely familiar to him, although he couldn’t pin it down. The tall figure turned away from him and began walking away into the endless void outside his room.

“We’ll catch up again sometime, Carmine.”

Before Carmine could do or say anything, he suddenly snapped awake in a cold sweat beneath his blankets, the morning sun peeking through the dorm window and his scroll alarm waking him up, reminding him of the mission this morning. He sat up in his bed and could only stare at his lap in shock before a sharp blow connected to his head, bringing his attention to Lilac who was half naked and slipping into her clothes. “Carmine, get ready! We gotta go to the forest today!” With no time to distract himself from the odd dream and the mysterious woman, Carmine got dressed along with his team sans Auburn, who was currently in the bathroom getting dressed. And as the team left to meet up with General Ironwood’s men, one thought filled Carmine’s head.

_‘...Raven?’_


	10. War of the Forest, Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wonder what's inside that abhorrent laboratory?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Had a bit of writers block for a while, sorry to anyone waiting on these updates!  
> I'm trying my best to stick to writing this cause I truly do want it to be finished one day, it's just really hard.  
> Anyway, hope you enjoy.

 

     The blood-soaked barricade that Carmine knew all too well was up ahead of the small group of soldiers and his team. Trekking through the forest where the four students completed their examinations was almost nostalgic to them, like they just visited a park they once played at as children. Lilac even pointed out the large clearing where they could see the cliff face they fought the Luna Beowulf together.

    The assigned leader of the soldiers, codenamed Hawk, turned to the group as they neared the entrance to the laboratories that housed Carmine as his men went ahead and began laying out the explosives used to breach the compound. “Alright, here’s what’s going to happen. We’re going to blow open the barricade and quickly retreat to a safe distance while the four of you run in and scout out the place.” Pulling out his scroll and quickly tapping his finger a few times on the screen, the four students could clearly identify a map of the forest being displayed through the glass as Hawk circled and labelled certain locations within the forest. “We’ll rendezvous south east of here, nearby the stone structure used to house the relics you retrieved during examination. If in two hours we haven’t heard word of you, we will call in reinforcements to storm the place. Don’t take too long otherwise we’ll be wasting resources.” Hawk scoffed and whispered something only Lilac could hear.

    “Like we aren’t already wasting resources on these kids.” Coughing to cover up his words, the leader continued his speech as Lilac gave him a death glare with crossed arms. “As you probably heard from Professor Ozpin you are to incapacitate individuals, you are not permitted to kill, and any information you can find is useful no matter how small it may be. After you have successfully returned, you will be required to report back to Professor Ozpin with all information you found. Any questions?” The only student who raised their hand was the groups small ginger gunslinger.

    “How many of them are in there?” The man shakes his head at Auburn’s question. “Not sure. We’re almost positive that when that thi-“Another cough erupts from his throat. “When Carmine broke out that most of them must have evac’d as quickly as they could. For all we know, this place is completely empty. But we have to check anyway. Ozpin’s orders.” The Atlesian seemed appeased by the answer and nodded, although the team glared daggers at the man.

    “Fire in the hole!” Before the four of them could turn their heads to the exclamation, a loud explosion thundered through the forest as the barricade was blown off professionally, landing far away in the distance from the team with a solid _bang_ echoing in the distance. Hawk simply nods to the team before retreating towards the rendezvous point with the rest of his men following behind.

    Taking the first step into the breached barricade, Carmine takes a deep breath and proceeds deeper inside. The area behind the barricade looked to be an abandoned section of a security grid that lead deeper into the facility. What appeared to be a large row of security gates one would see at a transport hub lay in front of the team, stretching out from one side of the massive room to the other, prohibiting entry until proper clearance was given. Sections of the giant metallic gates crossed the entire front of the barricade, with a small screen stationed at each. One gate stood out to the team far more than the rest, at the very far right end of the row.

    Carmine carefully walked up to the decimated gate with bated breath. The hinges that made the gate open from the middle were completely ripped off. Large claw marks lined along the metal and ripped through the only remaining door like a rampaging Grimm desperate to escape. Carmine gently touched a hand along the cold metal, feeling his skin slice easily from the contact of the sharp steel. Bleu makes an ‘oooh’ sound at the sight and moves closer to Carmine as he examines the torn gate himself. “I wonder what freak of science did this, eh? Another one of their toys?” Carmine chuckled darkly under his breath as he walked through the broken gate deeper inside the facility, and spoke without looking back at his team. “Yeah, I wonder.”

    After about one minutes of travel through the metallic corridors that extended past the gates, the four came across a very large atrium. A large fountain spewed forth water upward in the circled centre of the area, with gardens and benches surrounding the fountain as though this was a common room for NSI scientists and workers. The atrium had a surprisingly high ceiling that raised high above the team, and Carmine could swear he saw more levels as he looked higher up. Multiple doors were scattered around the walls of the large area. Carmine could count six or so separate doors with large digital signs that hanged above them just on the ground floor alone. But something troubled the blood bender, something he was sure that the rest of his team probably noticed too. The entire area was lit up with a bright red flashing light, with speakers attached to the walls occasionally blaring a warning signal. It was an evacuation order.

    “There’s no people here.” Carmine walked to a nearby bench and noticed that there were packets of food tossed aside nearby, and items such as wallets and keys were left behind on the ground in a rush. The most notable feature of the entire area however, was the large amounts of blood splattered across the floors and walls, with a trail seemingly leading towards the security doors the team navigated through earlier. Lilac bit her lip and walked up to her odd eyed partner with optimism in her voice and a smile on her face. “Even if we don’t capture anyone we can still get information, Carmine.” Bleu noticed Lilac’s attempts and rushed up towards his friend and waved a hand out over the area. “By the looks of it, this place is kinda huge. Maybe someone will be hiding here, who knows?” Carmine didn’t seem to hear his friend’s words, instead looking around the edges of the huge area to the doors.

    _‘Where did I...there.’_ Without a word, Carmine advanced towards the rightmost door from the entrance of the atrium and read the sign above. _‘Containment Cells’._ Behind him no less than a few steps Lilac saw the sign and connected the dots inside her head, optimism replaced with worry. “Is this...?” Carmine walked towards the door, his team following behind as he opened the large door and walked down the familiar corridor he escaped from. “I don’t have many memories of this place, only of the time before it. But this...” Stopping about halfway down the corridor of iron doors and bloodied floors Carmine recognized so well the team saw up ahead the door that Carmine imbedded into the wall when he escaped, as well as the copious amounts of blood along the walls.

    With only a nod, Carmine turns back and walks towards the atrium. The rest of his team look to one another in confusion before Lilac called out to him as he neared the door out. “Is that all you wanted to see here?” Carmine visibly shrugged in the distance. “Yeah, just wanted to confirm my memories more or less.” Closing the door behind him, Carmine re-entered the atrium and proceeded to inspect the other doors surrounding the atrium, starting with one to the immediate left of the Containment Cells, labelled ‘Reception Area’.

    Still inside the containment area, Lilac and Bleu began opening doors and checking if anyone was unlucky enough to remain was still residing inside them. Bleu began opening every 2nd door while Lilac opened every one in-between. Auburn however had a different idea. Her gaze remained fixed on the cell door blown out and through the wall opposite side of it. Curious as always, the small ginger walked into the open cell and examined the insides of Carmine’s cell.

    A small, uncomfortable looking bed resided to the immediate right of the entrance, and a single small table to the left. Nothing more remained in the metallic room to offer any kind of support or comfort to the ones it housed, the room wasn’t even heated for the occupant. A sad look greeted her face before being instantly replaced with her usual curious gaze as something on the table caught her eye. Bleu was knocking down his fourth door when he heard Auburn cry out for him. Looking to Lilac and seeing she was still ripping open the cells he ventured back down to see Auburn holding what appeared to be a tape recorder.

    The first thing Carmine noticed about the Reception area was the sheer number of workstations that filled the large room, as well as the same red light and warning siren that reverberated from the atrium. There were dozens of small cubicles just from where he was standing, all of them at least as high as his nose. Stationed within each cubicle resided one desk, a computer, a printer, and a waste basket, and never deviated once from this. If Carmine didn’t know any better, he would have thought he walked into a business building somewhere in Atlas. Carmine trekked through the area attempting to find anything of interest, only finding discarded food items and other objects of similar importance to the mission. Carmine made a ‘tch’ noise and scrunched his face in frustration within the seemingly abandoned facility. He turned on the spot to find the door and leave the area. “Looks like the place is completely cleared out. Damnnit. I wanted to find at least one bloody person.”

    “I find it funny that you seek ‘bloody’ people, as that was what you created when you left this place.” Carmine spun around on the balls of his feet, willed his chains to whip out and encircle his arms, and readied himself into a fighting stance within less than half a second in response to the feminine voice. Whoever it was that spoke to him chose to communicate through the speakers in the room, but Carmine had a feeling someone was somewhere nearby ever since he entered the room. Frantically looking around the room over the top of the cubicles, Carmine desperately attempted to find the source of the voice. “Show yourself!” An audacious laugh echoes from the speakers that filled the room, followed by a polite cough. “Oh, please 173. You and I both know that you could tear me apart limb from limb. Why on Remnant would I reveal myself?”

    Lilac fiddled with the recording device Auburn had discovered, the trio standing within the cell used to contain Carmine. Looking to her teammates, she bit her cheek at the indecisiveness of the situation. “Should we wait for Carmine? Surely he deserves to hear what’s on here more than any of us?” Before a group decision could be made, Bleu sprung forward with his hand and pressed the Play button on the recorder. Before his purple haired friend could berate him for the action a feminine voice filled the cell with a rapid pace in her words.

   _“Carmine. If you’re hearing this, then that means you’ve come back to this hell hole. Maybe to find answers, or to just get revenge I don’t know.”_ A snort comes from the speaker before a light laugh. _“Heh, I almost forgot who you are. You hate revenge. But hey, who knows? All the crap they pumped into you here probably changed you. Who knows what you might want, eh?”_ A frustrated sigh comes from the woman’s voice, her voice finally slowing down from the hasty introduction. _“Sorry. Just...frustrated. It’s taken me and my friend years to track down which facility they placed you in. And I’m so sorry that you had to wait for us at all, we should have found you earlier.”_ A loud _thump_ echoed from the recording, Lilac could only assume she punched something in anger. The next words spoken were in a near whisper. _“We should have found you earlier.”_

    At this point, Lilac was considering pausing the playback and stepping out to show Carmine, but something compelled her to continue listening to the words of the woman. _“Look, I know you’re probably confused and might want some answers. And right this second I can’t tell you everything, not yet anyway. And especially not through an unsafe recording anyone could pick up. But I can tell you a few things up front cause pretty much everyone knows what I’m about to tell you.”_ A deep breath came from the other side of the recording, and a short pause before she continued. _“Don’t freak out, but it’s been about twenty years since Nova Science took you.”_

    Carmine continued his rampage through the cubicles, tearing them down as he walked through and destroying the computers housed inside. His blood chains now covered his arms like a course hair that vibrated and moved like water, and a vicious snarl accompanied his angry look in his eyes. “I said show yourself you fuck!” Yet another laugh emanates from within the room, only furthering the progression of Carmine’s aggressive approach. “My, I did make you quite the little monster, didn’t I? Pat myself on the back for that job well done.” Enraged by her words he destroys another cubicle and wills more chains to surround his legs and torso, although trying to hold back on the flare so he doesn’t exhaust all the blood in his system. This wasn’t exactly the best time to test how far his control extended over his flare.

“What are you still doing in this place!? The whole area is deserted and if we find you- “

    “You’ll what, 173? Kill me? Torture me?” This made Carmine pause and realize just what he was doing and saying, silently calming himself down enough to retract a few chains back within his body. The voice on the speaker continues. “Carmine Thorte, when you were chosen for the Hades Gauntlet project all those years ago we thought we would never find someone who could handle the modifications as well as you did.” A footstep echoed through the room, causing Carmine to shift in his hunched over posture slightly, blood chains still flowing along his muscles and skin. “It wasn’t until we threw you to our Freakshow with the other Gladiators that we saw just how _amazingly_ you could handle those chains that currently protect and serve you. And I don’t just mean in a combative sense, I mean biologically.” Footsteps continue to echoed through the empty room, Carmine keeping an eye out in all directions possible as the chains rippled and surrounded him.

   “Your semblance, what a divine gift to you. Not only were you a perfect lab rat for tests, but damn could you regenerate blood like a madman!” Carmine had enough of the ramblings. Tearing down a few more cubicles in his wake he charged forward and scoured the area for the mysterious person, having enough of these mind games. “Who are you?!” A chill ran down his spine as a chuckle came from right behind him, directly into his left ear. “I’m your creator, Blood Dragon.” Spinning around at lightning fast speeds, Carmine slammed a mass of chains directly where he assumed the person was, only to find no one was there and plummeting his chains directly into the floor. He grunted and pulled back the mass into his arms as the voice clapped and laughed at his attempts to harm it. “Didn’t anyone teach you to respect your betters, 173?” Carmine growled at the words of the unknown person, only causing more laughter to enter the area.

    “Guys, I seriously think we should wait for Carmine before listening further.” Bleu hushed his musical friend, to which Lilac rolled her eyes and continued listening to the recording. _“I know it’s probably a lot to take in, right? You’re thirty-eight, Carmine. Heh, well at least you’re not as old as I am.”_ Lilac couldn’t help but frown at those words, it felt like the woman on the other end was disheartened by that particular thought. _“Look, to put it simply you were housed in Atlas for maybe four years, or at least that’s what Nova Science told your parents. We don’t know how long it was until they moved you into Vale, but after about five years NSI simply cut off contact between them and your parents. After that happened, I wasn’t informed until about eight years ago.”_ A shifting sound could be heard through the speakers, like the rustling of bed sheets. _“Your parents hunted_ _down NSI for as long as they could, but no official business in Atlas had even heard of NSI before. No amount of searching could find you, no amount of law enforcement could track you down. Eventually they just...gave up. Assumed you were dead. Or worse.”_

Lilac knew exactly how Carmine’s parents felt. To have lost a loved one and search, only to find nothing and eventually residing to believe the worst had happened. She could only imagine how it would feel to lose a child in that manner. _“Look, we’ll talk more soon. In fact, you and I probably already met before you got this recording. I can tell you this Carmine; You’re strong, stronger than any other experiment that went through your project, and a hell of a lot stronger than any student or teacher at Beacon. NSI have multiple if not possibly hundreds of projects throughout Remnant, and only a few succeed like yours did. Most of them fail and they get discarded. But when they_ do _succeed, they’re trained to become better with the modifications.”_

The woman laughs on the other end of the recording and sighs. _“Carmine Thorte, the Blood Dragon. That’s what they call you. Or just ‘Subject 173’, you know? To dehumanize you I guess. Make it easier on them to mess with your insides, or in your case your entire cardiac system.”_ Lilac looked to her friends with shock and confusion which was returned by Bleu, but the voice continued after a faint cough. “ _If the project heads see potential in a certain Gladiator in the Freakshow, they might ask for further training or modifications to make them stronger. Stronger to the point where it’s almost terrifying. That rank is called Dragon, and each project only has one Dragon.”_ Sounds of disturbance came from the recording like a hand banging on metal, but the voice continued on as if the sounds didn’t exist.

    _“Soon you’ll see me again, and I promise I’ll tell you everything I know. Any questions you might have, I will answer to the best of my knowledge. But right now, me and my partner are looking into more leads about other projects and potentially another escaped Dragon we might need to contact. You’ll be fine without us for a bit longer, and trust me Ozpin will take care of you.”_ The metallic banging grew more prominent, and the woman talking grew more anxious as it continued. _“Use the power they gave you, Carmine. Destroy what NSI have created, find the other projects, meet the other Dragons and learn from them. Become a force to be reckoned with and take them down.”_ More shifting noises came from the other end of the speaker, the woman now whispering into the microphone, making some of the audio become nearly inaudible. _“I have to go, Carmine. If you’re hearing this, look for Roth. Roth Odinson. And whatever you do, do **not** fight Vermi- RECORDING. ENDED.”_

    Carmine became more and more anxious as the voice spoke to him. Something about the tone told him that it was confident against him, despite its previous declaration of Carmine’s strength. “You know, you might _just_ become a threat to us. Isn’t that exciting? But doubtful, honestly. After all, we have certain measures against Dragons escaping such as yourself.” A loud crash bursts down a cubicle as Carmine stomps through the room in his attempts to uncover the person, the room now filled with debris and only a very small number of standing cubicles. “I mean, do you think we would honestly create something as powerful as you and not anticipate an outbreak? Do you think we’re _that_ incompetent?” The voice this time echoes from behind Carmine, in the direction of the door he entered the room from. Along the path every cubicle was smashed into bits by Carmine so there was nowhere for the person to hide this time.

    In front of the exit to the room stood a very tall, blonde haired woman with a blue visor that extends from her hair and encircles in front of her eyes. Her eyes were a brilliant shade of light green and she wore a white, standard lab coat with four arrow markings stitched into the fabric on the pocket. She was smugly smiling at Carmine who was now completely engulfed in his chains, making him look like a metallic Lycan hunting down its next meal. The woman bows and stands up to attention, a hand resting on her right breast as she spoke. “Cassius Rudem. Your creator, your owner, and of course, your God.” Finishing the sentence with a smile, not a second later Carmine charged down the pathway full sprint roaring bloody murder. Smashing into any debris in his wake towards the woman without a care, but just before he reached her the door behind opened and closed. Carmine could faintly hear her voice from the other side. “We’ll talk again soon, 173.”

    “ **Don’t you fucking run from me, bitch!”** With the force of a hurricane, Carmine smashed the door off its hinges and flung it into the atrium, smashing into the fountain with enough force to break the top of it off. Looking left and right frantically, Carmine failed to find or identify the location of Cassius, but something else caught his searching eye. Auburn, Bleu and Lilac were staring in shock at Carmine, possibly thinking he was a rampaging Grimm with all his chains surrounding him or just shocked at his sudden entrance into the area. The sight of his team calmed him down significantly and made him retract the chains back within his bloodstream. Rushing towards them and panting from exhaustion, he was bombarded with words and questions his brain couldn’t fully process at the time. Either from the exhaustion of the chase or simply because his mind was far too focused on one thing currently. “Where did she go?” The trio stopped talking and looked extremely confused at the question. Bleu held a hand out with a tape recorder mid-sentence to respond to Carmine’s query.

    “Um, where did who go what now?” Before Carmine could grind his teeth in anger at the question, a blaring siren erupted through the buildings speaker system. Loud enough that Lilac needed to use her semblance to hear the words being addressed through the siren itself. “ ** _SELF-DESTRUCT MECHANISM INITIATED BY SENIOR RESEARCHER RUDEM. SIXTY SECONDS UNTIL DETONATION OF CLASS-H WARHEAD_**.” Lilac didn’t have time to inform the others of what was going on, the second she heard ‘self-destruct’ she grabbed Carmine and Auburn by the wrists and began sprinting towards the exit of the atrium. Bleu was already sprinting ahead of her, probably sensing the danger before she could hear the announcement.

    As they neared the broken and bloodied barricade that they entered from Lilac could clearly hear the countdown for the explosion almost meeting its limit. “ ** _10 SECONDS UNTIL DETONATION_**.” She turned to the others and saw that they pretty much heard the same thing. Carmine grunted as he ran faster out the broken barricade and stopped to turn and face the impending doom it was about to unleash. As the last of his team exited the hole in the forest, Carmine willed his chains to extend out further than he has ever tried, creating a protective sheet of his metal that offered the same defence as a large shield. And just as the final links of metal clicked together inside the sheet, a loud booming explosion erupted from within the facility and pushed Carmine back slightly in his stance. His shield withstood the initial blast and he could easily feel that a few rocks or shards of metal attempted to pierce through his defences.

    When the ringing in his ears stopped, Carmine lowered the protective metal and retracted it back into his bloodstream. He lowered his hands onto his knees and began panting painfully. He felt a hand pat him on the back and from his point of view saw the jeans of his Faunus friend by his side consoling him, panting with exhaustion in a similar manner. Bleu made a ‘whew!’ noise and patted Carmine twice more. “Good job, Car. Woulda become a shish kebab if it weren’t for you.” Carmine smiled and gave a thumb up to the Faunus without raising his head. The team took a moment to compose themselves before a sudden realization dawned on them.

    Auburn made a ‘hiss’ noise as the thought dawned on her. “We didn’t get any data or anything, did we?” Awkward silence cut through the air between the team before Lilac pulled out the same black recording device they picked up from Carmine’s cell and juggled it between her hands. “All we got was this.” She turned to face Carmine and handed it off to him, which he accepted with curiosity. “Listen to that soon. It sounds like it’s from the mole who helped you escape, or at least one of them.” Before Carmine could ask what was on the tape, a loud thundering roar shook the forest and trees around them. It didn’t sound like a single source was responsible, as afterwards more roars joined the chorus of sound around them. Carmine looked behind him at the destroyed remnants of the barricade. “The explosion must have attracted company. We should run for it.”

    Lilac nodded at his words and lead the group towards the direction of the stone ruins where Hawk’s men were waiting for them. A few minutes’ pass and when they arrive, the group of soldiers were already under siege by a small group of Beowulfs. Easily dispatched when Team BLAC arrived, a quick volley of dust from Crossfade chased them off the group and were quickly killed by shots from Huckleberry. Carmine charged forward and kicked one of the Grimm squarely in the chest and shoved an arm into its head with his chains. When the swarm dissipated into dust Hawk stood to attention and began using his radio, presumably to inform Ozpin of BLAC’s successful return. After a few choice words and some nodding, the leader put the radio away and turned his head slightly towards the team.

    “You’re instructed to return on your own. We will remain and return to the facility to salvage anything possible. Those are your orders.” Lilac looked uncertain at these orders, concerned for the safety of the group of soldiers. “Are you sure you’ll be okay? There’s a ton of Grimm in the area.” Hawk ignored her question and simply lead the soldiers through the forest back where the team emerged from. Bleu shrugged and began walked towards the direction of the cliff where Beacon stood, with Lilac hesitating before following behind him. “Alright, I guess we’ll go report to Ozpin. You two fine with that?” Carmine and Auburn decided to stay back near the stone ruins and called out to say that they’ll catch up with them in time. And Lilac was positive she knew why Carmine decided to hang back, and why Auburn joined him. The reason Carmine wanted to stay back was so there was somewhere quiet he could listen to the recording given to him by the others. Auburn, sensing this, decided to stick with him as support. She already knew what lay beneath the small device and wanted to be there for him when it hits, just wanting to help her friend out.

    The first thing Carmine noticed was how remarkably familiar the voice sounded, to a point where he easily identified the owner, but didn’t say that out loud for Auburn to hear. At various points throughout the recording Carmine heard the voice say something which caused him to pause the video and take a breather on the hard stone of the ruins to think it over. At some points, he just didn’t speak and simply sat there entranced by what he heard. The entire time Auburn sat next to him not touching him and just being there for him, something he appreciated.

    _“I have to go, Carmine. If you get this, look for Roth. Roth Odinson. And whatever you do, do **not** fight Vermi- RECORDING. ENDED.” _Carmine huffed through his nose and brushed a hand through his black hair as he sat with Auburn. He smacked the back of his head against the stone behind him and closed his eyes momentarily. “Twenty fucking years, huh?” Auburn had her legs crossed and was rocking back and forth on the stone as she studied Carmine’s reactions. “Do you recognize the voice? She seems to know you.” Carmine pinched the bridge of his nose and gave Auburn a shrug, unwilling to reveal all he knew. “Not confident, but I might recall it.” He holds a hand to his chin and hums in thought, Auburn copying his movements. “Find Roth Odinson? I don’t recognize the name.” Carmine shakes his head. “Neither do I. I wonder why she would tell me to do that, and who was she trying to tell me to avoid fighting?” Auburn shrugged, a common action in the daily life of Carmine. The ginger simply sat in silence as Carmine thought aloud to himself.

    “So, there’s two moles in NSI? Or at least one, and the other helping? I don’t get it at all.” Carmine stood up fully and began pacing the circle of the ruins, Auburn rocking on the spot with her legs crossed watching him as he did so. “And she mentioned the Dragons. That’s what that woman in the reception area called me. And they’re other experiments like me? And my parents...Where are they now? It’s been almost twenty years.” The ginger accompanying him had to do a double take and address Carmine’s second sentence. “Carmine, you mentioned a woman? Who was that?”

    The blood bender stopped in his tracks and spun around to face Auburn as best he could, considering their height difference. “Yeah, the chick who went into the atrium before I came out. Didn’t you guys see her?” Auburn shook her head in honesty. “Carmine, no one left that room before you. I swear.” More confused by her answer than anything, Carmine continued pacing the area. “Someone else was in the room with me before I left, and she left through the same door as me.” Auburn had returned to her place on the floor and continued her rocking. “Well, what did she say?” Carmine laughed and waved a hand, never stopping his tracks around the ruins. “That’s the thing, she didn’t really tell me a whole lot other than ‘You’re a great lab rat’ and ‘haha I’m better than you’. She was more angering than anything.” As Carmine’s path made him pass by Auburn he stopped momentarily to look at his friend, who looked back up at him.

    For a brief moment, the two Atlesian students stared at each other before Carmine lowered himself into the same position as Auburn was, cross legged and leaning against the walls of the ruins. He took a deep breath and tilted his head so he was facing her. “Auburn, why are you okay with what’s happening?” The ginger smiled at the question, almost as if she’s been wanting to answer a question like that for years. “Because it makes me feel like an actual Huntress.” Carmine shook his head and hunched over in his position, still facing her. “No, no, no. I mean, like, with all this NSI stuff? Why are you okay with the fact that I’m essentially a freak of nature?” This caused Auburn to give him a look of genuine shock, which transitioned to confusion, and then once again back to her trademark smile.

    Auburn had everything a person could want for; money, a family name within Atlesian ranks, a warm home to return to, and of course the ability to follow her dream of being a Huntress. And while she couldn’t speak for her other team mates, Auburn had a good idea of what the other two had gone through in their lives. Bleu was the only one of the four who really kept to himself when it came to his past, but that spoke volumes enough on its own. In Auburn’s mind, each of them had one thing connecting each other; a drive to become greater. Stronger. Faster. To become better. Lilac’s mentor encouraged her to become strong and fight for what’s left of Remnant, Bleu wants everyone to be free and in control of their lives, and Auburn simply wants to separate her own name from her families.

    In Auburn’s eyes, all Carmine wants is his life to be back to normal.

    Nothing major, nothing ground breaking. Just a normal life. A wish that might never happen.

    She spoke with honesty, and never wavered in her voice as she gave Carmine her response. “Because you’re my friend.” Carmine could only smile and rest his head against the cold stone behind him. “Thank you.” Auburn smiled and scratched her head absent minded. “Hey, Carmine? Why aren’t you freaking out about all this? It’s been twenty years, how can you be calm?” Carmine never opened his eyes as he responded. “What’s that going to accomplish? I kinda figured out that it had been a long time since I went with NSI, and yeah everything is a bit heavy on me right now, but worrying over crap won’t solve crap.” A logical answer, reasoned Auburn. A bit too logical for her liking. “Wanna talk about it?”

    For a few seconds, there was nothing but silence. Carmine didn’t move a single muscle nor speak a single syllable. Auburn could have counted the total amount of Grimm occupying the forest in the time it took for Carmine to finally respond to her query. Sharply inhaling, Carmine slouched forward in his position and released a breath, making sure to not make eye contact with his red-haired friend. “It’s just a lot to take in sometimes. Just thinking that as far back as my memory goes, the day NSI took me away from my life was twenty _years_ ago.” Carmine stretched out his arms and gave a loud grunt as popping sounds came from his shoulder. “And the fact that my friend from all those years ago is still somewhere out there a grown woman scares me a little. I guess not seeing her as the girl I once knew kinda scares me, makes me realize how much has truly changed since that day.” Carmine allowed himself a small laugh as he made a realization.

    “Heh, if seeing Summer like that was enough to knock me to reality, then I’d hate to see what meeting my parents would do to me.” Carmine nearly forgot that he was talking to his friend for a second, spilling information he had up until this point kept to himself. He expected Auburn to quickly fire back with questions, or at least remain silent after his small ramble. His ginger friend merely continued smiling and spoke from her heart. “I never had friends back in Atlas. Sure, I was sent to the fancy schmancy Atlas Academy and studied there, but I never really felt connected to anyone.” The black-haired teen was on the alert for a bombardment of questions from his team mate, what he didn’t expect was a story. And what worried Carmine the most wasn’t that, but the fact that although Auburn was smiling, he could see a faint sadness beneath her visage.

    “Everyone back at Atlas Academy wanted to continue on their family name, take up the business you know? Everyone’s story was the same. ‘My dad was in the military and now I wanna be in the military!’ Or even more common ‘My family is involved with the S.D.C and now I wanna be involved.’” Auburn turned to Carmine, who was still staring at the ground with great interest. “My family is involved in custom Dust cartridges for weapons. It’s where I get my ammo for Huckleberry. My dad wants me to take over the company like everyone in Atlas does for their kids, but I don’t want that.” Auburn turned to look at the same piece of very interesting stone that Carmine was keeping his gaze on. “I want my own name. I don’t want people to think of me only as ‘The Rays girl who manages Dust cartridges’. I want people to think of my name as ‘Auburn Rays, Professional Huntress.’” Auburn coughs slightly into her hand before she spoke again. “I want to be someone, not because of my family. Because of me.”

    The two continued to keep their eye contact to a minimum. They sat there on the cold hard stone of the ruins for at least a minute before Carmine spoke up. He laughed lightly and waved a hand in Auburn’s direction, causing the ginger to look up at him as he turned to face her. Carmine shifted so his back was straight and looked to Auburn with a genuine smile, one which she returned. “When I was living in Atlas, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do with my life. I attended Atlas High and I studied all sorts of different subjects, but never really made a connection with just one of them. I didn’t know what I wanted from life.” Turning his head to face upwards, Carmine shuts his eyes as he thinks back to those times in Lichtonne. “Becoming a Hunter was never on my mind. My semblance wasn’t really well fitted for combat, and I didn’t have any past combat experience. But now though...”

    Carmine looked down at the bracelets that Coco made for him, a smile gracing his lips once more. “Now I have more options.” The entire time Carmine spoke Auburn was staring at him, and only now did she feel the need to interrupt. “You’re not ready to decide on that yet. You still need time.” Auburn gently rested her hand on her friend’s shoulder. Whether or not he objected to the action or accepted it, he didn’t allow it to show and continued speaking. “Summer chose to become a Huntress. She wanted to protect those she cared about, which pretty much included my family and hers.” Carmine huffed air through his nose as Auburn released her grip on his shoulder. “I’m not sure if she succeeded, but by the looks of it she has.” Carmine sighed and slouched back in his position. “I wonder what’s changed since all those years ago?” Auburn patted him on the knee, instantly bringing his attention back to her. “Well, allow me to regale you with the tale of Atlas’ history of the past twenty odd years.” Carmine was actually talking about Raven and his family more so than Atlas itself, but that didn’t let him stop Auburn from speaking.

    “Sir, there are some unusual readings coming from deep within the facility.” Hawk allowed himself to be momentarily distracted from the scenery to listen to what his men were reporting. Wandering back over towards the pile of rubble that was once the barricade Hawk met with the man who called for him. He was fiddling with a piece of radar equipment very close to the destroyed entrance. Hawk could make out some blips on the radar, which was enough to cause worry on its own. “What’s the situation?” Hawk could already see what the issue was, he didn’t need it explained. The radar was clearly showing _multiple_ entities on the other side of the destroyed entrance, causing Hawk to feel angered at the lack of proper reconnaissance done by Ozpin’s prized black ops team.

    “Dig them out and capture them for further questioning later.” Hawk turned around to hopefully catch the team of students as they were exiting and give them a word or two, but before he could take even two steps a loud, thundering roar stopped him in his tracks. Not because it scared him, and not because he was walking right into whatever beast was creating the sound. Another roar echoes through the forest, coming straight from behind the wreckage and rubble once known as the entrance to NSI’s facility. A single drop of sweat slid down Hawk’s forehead as another roar emanated from within the broken facility, the radar instrument pinging off every second with the number of entities increasing.

    A section of the destroyed entrance shifted slightly, followed by a loud shriek.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part 3 coming soon (hopefully) in the next century (maybe).


	11. War of the Forest, Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The horrors of science come to play when the master dies.

    Dark clouds gathered across the skies of Vale, dotting the horizon with their presence as they slowly creep up on the unsuspecting city. The light pitter patter of rain gently greets the residences of the city, alerting them to rush indoors or find cover as the region brewed a storm worthy of Nora’s praise. As the storm passed over from the west, the Emerald Forest was one of the last locations to be hit by the surge of water and electricity. The elements were against the two students currently inhabiting the forest ruins, who were startled by the sound of loud thunder.

     Auburn corrected herself before turning to Carmine, intent on asking something that has been bugging her ever since she met him. “So, what’s it feel like?” Startled a second time by the sudden question, Carmine sat up to properly address his ginger friend. “Um sorry, what? I didn’t catch that.” Auburn and Carmine currently sat next to each other within the stone ruins that contained their chess pieces from the examination. Carmine had been slacking in his posture as he thought of things that were high on his priorities, Raven, his family, the other Dragon’s, NSI, things like that.

    “I asked what does it feel like? To have chains of metal racing through your bloodstream? How does it get back inside you? Where do you keep it?” The subject of her questioning began laughing at his small friend and her curiosity to his origins, but calmed down soon after to be greeted with her annoyed face. “Alright, alright. I get it, you wouldn’t know how it feels.”

    Pulling up his sleeve on his right arm to show his bare skin, and gesturing Auburn closer to him so she could observe it with him, Carmine willed his chains to move underneath his skin. It looked more like an alien trying to burst out from his arm rather than chains made of blood, but Auburn knew what she was looking at. She watched as the movement crawled up through Carmine’s body until it finally reached his bracelets, where the metal burst forth and curled itself around his arm with a thick coating of metal. Carmine lifted his arm and flexed it once in front of Auburn, already feeling how strong the metal made him.

    “Imagine feeling something underneath your skin that wasn’t a part of you, but it wasn’t something you were afraid of either. Like a symbiotic relationship, sorta.” He slowly rotated his arm clockwise so that Auburn could observe the entirety of his abnormal mutation. “It both feels like I am in control and...’it’ is in control.” This caught the gingers attention. “What is ‘it’?” Carmine huffed a laugh before retracting his metal back under his skin and turning to his friend. “My instincts.”

    The black-haired student jumped up at the sudden sound of thunder, realizing that the storm was about to assault the forest he and his friend currently occupied. Carmine turned to his team mate with a look of dread slowly growing on his face. “I reckon we should get out of here while we have time, Au-“

   Cut off mid-sentence by the crack of lightning in the near distance, the rain began its surge through the forest. The first few droplets hit Carmine where he stood, causing Auburn to giggle at his misfortune before she too was hit by some rogue sky-water. The duo looked to each other wordlessly and began mentally preparing themselves to trek through the raging storm that engulfed the forest. Auburn stood to join her friend and venture through what was inevitably an uncomfortable experience for the both of them.

    By the time they were almost ready to leave, the storm was raging throughout the forest with a fury unlike that of when Sarge yelled at the students. Carmine had to keep moving his long and curled hair out of his vision due to how soaked his hair was, and Auburn was in a similar predicament. Just as the two were about to step out of the ruins and head back to their dorms through the water and the wind, a strange sound through the storm halted them in their tracks.

    They could barely make it out through the thunder and the rain crashing into the solid earth beneath, but it was there. Carmine looked to Auburn for guidance only to find her looking around in every direction she could in an attempt to locate the source of the sound. Through the cascading rainfall they could only barely see a few meters in every direction, just able to spot the edge of the clearing the ruins were kept in.

“...He...ons...!”

     Carmine could recognize the voice of someone familiar, not long before identifying a black shape moving through the bushes beyond the clearing. As the figure came closer to the two students, they gasped in realization at who it was approaching them. Carmine quickly rushed over through the wind and storm in a desperate attempt to grab Hawk as he fell to his knees. Carmine could practically smell the scent of his blood through the storm, considering he was absolutely covered head to toe in what Carmine had hoped was something else’s blood.

    When Carmine finally reached Hawk, it became glaring obvious that the blood currently soaking his clothes was his own. His face and body was covered in multiple bruises and lacerations. Whatever attacked him appeared to have a sharp blade and packed a punch to deal so much damage to the man in front of him.

_“...a Grimm couldn’t have done this.”_

Carmine felt the presence of Auburn behind him, and audibly heard her gasp at the captains wounds. But he wasn’t focused on that. Lifting Hawk’s chin so he could look him in the eyes, Carmine saw nothing but pure, unadulterated fear across the leaders face. Carmine had to shout to make his voice heard over the thundering noise of rain and lightning strikes. A forest fire was a very real threat in the circumstances, and Carmine didn’t want to remain any longer than he had to.

    “Captain what did this to you?! Where is it?! Are th-“ Hawk grabbed Carmine by the scruff of his damp white shirt and pulled him closer to his face, absolute terror filled his eyes as he shouted at the blood bender. “Monsters! Freaks of nature! Killed most of my men, left some of them alive for some reason, I don’t know why or where or who!” Carmine heard another gasp from Auburn, the Atlesian obviously not used to highly tense situations yet. She was only a student after all.

    Unable to coherently process what the captain was saying, Carmine shook his head and held onto Hawk’s shoulders to steady both of them as he spoke. “Calm down, captain! We need to escape the forest as fast as possible! If we work together we can make it!” As he spoke Carmine attempted to grab Hawk more firmly and raise him to his feet, proving a difficult task as Hawk was unwilling to move any further. The aged military soldier looked to Carmine with defeat in his visage and began sobbing from his kneeled position on the forest floor, his eyes never leaving the teens.

    “We can’t outrun them! They’re too strong! We’re all going to die!” Carmine took a deep breath through the storm and exhaled deeply through his nose. As he was about to reply to the captain, he stood up quickly and grabbed Carmine by the scruff of his shirt once again, although this time with a little more malice behind the action. Hawk didn’t just look angry, he looked absolutely livid. He leaned in closely to Carmine’s face, close enough that Carmine could pick up what he whispered.

“They fight like you, except more like a wild animal with a hunger. They have your powers, your blood metal, your fucking mutations.”

    This got Carmine’s interest. More people like him? More experiment subjects? More Dragons? The possibility of talking to anyone who might even remotely have information regarding other Dragons is a valuable person indeed to Carmine, especially if they know of this Roth person that Raven expects him to find. Hawk’s words fuelled Carmine. He needed to know what the others knew. He needed to gather intel and find out as much as he can about NSI.

    When Hawk fell back to his knees Carmine willed his chains through his arms to reinforce his muscles, using enhanced strength to quickly and sharply pull Hawk back up to eye level with the student. A righteous fury filled Carmine’s eyes and a small smile appeared on his face, clearly forgetting about the damage done to the captain and more focused on completing Raven’s mission. “Tell me everything! Where are they?!” Hawk weakly pointed a finger in the direction of the barricade where NSI’s facility once lay. Dropping the broken soldier to the forest without any care, Carmine skipped into a sprint back towards the laboratories that turned him into the weapon he is.

    Auburn attempted to chase after Carmine, shouting after him to slow down and wait up for her. The pleas fell on deaf ears as Carmine reinforced his legs with his chains and began sprinting faster than a Beowulf on the hunt. Auburn didn’t stop chasing after him even despite this, however. She tried to keep up with Carmine’s fast pace, knowing vaguely where he was heading.

    When Carmine reached the section of the forest that housed the barricade he knew all too well, the first thing he noticed was that although he could see the bodies of Hawk’s men, there was little to no blood in the crime scene. Carmine nearly threw up when he got a detailed look at one of the corpses. Ripped in half from the neck down to his groin, with not a single drop of blood anywhere near the body. He suspected why this was the case, but feared that he was correct. Moving over to inspect more of the men his suspicions were confirmed. All the men had their blood drained from them, and Carmine could tell this wasn’t all of them. It was obvious what had happened.

    The odd eyed student heard footsteps behind him but didn’t budge an inch, already knowing it was Auburn coming to investigate. As the storm raged above them Auburn quickly checked over the bodies and walked to Carmine, who was inspecting a massive disturbance in the pile of rubble that separates the facility from the outside world. A huge caved-in hole opened up the facility, or what’s left of it. The two students didn’t need long to figure out what happened.

    Carmine turned to his ginger friend with a slight twinge of fear in his voice. “Something came out of NSI’s lab and attacked Hawk’s men.” Auburn stood in silence as she processed what she has seen. Carmine could already tell it was all too much for the ginger. When she finally spoke her voice broke at first, speechless at what everything so far implies.

“Carmine, what happens if a subject doesn’t become a Dragon? What happens to those who survive the experiments but aren’t strong enough to go on to the next stage?”

    As he was about to reply, a bone chilling shriek echoed through the forest, a sound that resembled a human woman screaming at the top of her lungs. Under the circumstances the two were cautious of the sound, where normally they would jump to action to assist whoever it was that needed their help. Unfortunately for the two Hunters, it was them that required assistance.

    Coming into view through the cascade of rain and storm, a figure of a person shuffled into the clearing where Carmine and Auburn stood. Although she couldn’t make out many details Auburn could tell it was a short man, perhaps as tall as she was, wearing nothing but what appeared to be a skin-tight suit of some kind. She was about to take a step over to greet the newcomer before Carmine halted her progress with a hand on her shoulder and moving himself so he was between Auburn and the mysterious person. Carmine’s eyes never left the blurry visage of the man.

“I can smell blood on you from all the way over here, who are you?!”

    The figure stopped moving for a few seconds and Carmine thought that maybe he had scared someone to death. Carmine cleared his throat through the rain and took a deep breath. “I said, who are-?!” Before Carmine could finish his sentence, it threw its head back and _screamed_. It only lasted a few minutes, but it was loud and high enough that Carmine and Auburn had to clutch at their ears from the pain. The world became blurry in Carmine’s eyes as he knelt in the forest, but he could still feel the pelting of rain on his back and hear Auburn’s cries through it all. And he could definitely feel the crack of bone as the man ran forward and kicked him in the chest while he screamed. Carmine was hit with enough force to knock him back a few metres and onto his feet, although off balanced by the sudden force.

    He had enough time to register that he was attacked before the man pushed past Auburn and took another chance at striking Carmine. Just as his fist connected with Carmine’s raised arms, the Dragon saw that the man was covered head to toe in blood and most of it was covering his face and teeth. Carmine put that thought aside for later, assuming he was correct on who he thought this was.

    Carmine reeled back in preparation for the next attack and gracefully dodged out of the way of an incoming punch, and took a quick step closer to his enemy to punch him square in the chest with a little more force than the first kick the man gave to Carmine. This sent the mysterious enemy back far enough that he was knocked into a tree and down onto the ground behind some bushes. Carmine noticed that he truly acted on pure instinct, rushing crazily to get out of the bushes and into an attacking stance. The man echoed a hearty roar in Carmine’s direction before charging toward the student with unbridled rage and raised arms. Although this made him easily predictable, Carmine noted that the man was _insanely_ strong.

    For the third time in his conscious life, Carmine flared his aura straight into his heart and allowed it to pump an excessive amount of blood into his system, then converting it straight into metal. Carmine barely had control over how much blood was converted through his aura flare, but that was neither here nor there. As he felt the crackling of electricity flow through his veins and outward, Carmine slammed a metallic arm straight into the ground and roared back at the strange man, hoping to intimidate him or at least appear stronger to his hunter.

    But the man didn’t flinch nor hesitate, instead he continued charging forward with as much bloodlust in his eyes as a tiger left without food for weeks. Raising a hand as he came closer, Carmine noticed an odd detail through the downpour of the elements, one that he couldn’t have possibly spotted before through the storm and thunder. The man wore a pair of identical, blackened gauntlets. Carmine wasn’t sure at first exactly what it was, but he allowed the man to continue his charge until he got close enough so that the gauntlets could be examined. And the second Carmine read what was on the gauntlets made him hesitate, more than long enough for his opponent to land a strike.

    Auburn watched in horror as Carmine was skewered through the stomach by a large, black spear that seemed to protrude from the man’s forearm. A spray of blood splattered from Carmine’s mouth onto the man as the spear was removed. Carmine could only stand in pain as the spear was then reforged into a gigantic claw right before his eyes. He swiped once downward against Carmine with enough force to send him straight into the ground, although the Dragon recovered. The world was now a mixture of sounds and visuals for Carmine, much like when he first awoke.

    Carmine made his chains tighten against his body, and commanded the metal against his muscles to go into overdrive. Once again Carmine felt the rush of strength from his chains, but now with an aura flare he felt immensely stronger than normal, ready to take on whatever enemies the NSI launch after them, or anyone else. The metallic fibres that flow along Carmine like water flowed down his body and retracted into his bloodstream, leaving only the metal that remained on his legs and forearms. The metallic hair flowed in the wind off his limbs as the metal that previously covered him filled his body with itself, causing tremendous amounts of pain to Carmine.

    The first thing he felt was absolute agony, causing him to double over with pain. Carmine could feel the metallic fibres stitching itself across the wound the man caused earlier with the spear, closing off the wound and stopping any bleeding. But the metallic fibres kept crawling along his body, up to his neck where his veins darkened as the metal crawled through. Carmine screamed, which slowly but surely turned into a loud, devastating roar as the metal finished coiling itself inside him. When the pain stopped, Carmine stopped roaring immediately. Slowly rising to his full height, Auburn saw the new look for the Dragon.

    The metallic hair that used to cover him like a very hairy Alpha Beowulf was now only coming from his arms and legs, instead of his entire body. He _seems_ taller, but Auburn couldn’t tell from the distance she kept. The most notable feature was the darkened veins that showed prominently up along his arms and legs, but fade as they got further from the appendage. And Auburn could swear there were darkened veins along his neck.

    Carmine didn’t have enough time to examine his new look, but he could already feel _much_ stronger. When Carmine felt the transition end, he could still hear the screams of the man attacking him, although they now sounded far more hysteric. Carmine could swear he made out words as he charged forward once again.

“DRAGON! BLOOD DRAGON!”

    Not allowing anything to distract him, Carmine rushed forward to meet the man halfway. His speed was almost blinding through the raging storm above that kept Auburn’s aim unsteady. She watched from the sidelines in fear of the raging lightning and roaring thunder that kept her shaking. Her friend was battling for his life, and all she could do is watch. She reasoned with herself; It’s better to not shoot than to shoot and hit Carmine on accident.

   Up, down, right, right, down, left, right, up. Carmine tried to find a pattern with his enemies’ jabbing, but the man seemed to be lost in his instincts. Thinking nothing of self-preservation, only creative ways to kill his prey. Like an animal in a cage fight, cornered and relying fully on its instincts to win, whether they die or not. Carmine sighed as the crazed man failed another jab.

_“I can’t kill him.”_

_“Why the hell not? He’s just a beast.”_

_“If he’s a beast then what does that make me?”_

    Carmine huffed air through his nose as he readies himself into a stance, stopping himself from backing away from the man’s strikes and instead bouncing back into him with a punch that would have shoved the man back across the forest from the impact, although the man continued screaming as he grabbed Carmine by the wrist as he punched.

    With the other hand, the man stabbed into Carmine’s arm with the spear he forged. Carmine only barely winced at the pain, thankfully the chains keeping him sturdy. But all of this was quickly followed up. The man flung his head back and headbutted the Dragon square in the nose, which had enough force behind it to knock Carmine back to Beacon, if it wasn’t for the man holding onto Carmine through it all.

    Carmine had not but 2 seconds to figure out what had happened before another force impacted him in the chest, and again in the knees as he fell on them, each with the same force as the headbutt. By the fourth hit, Carmine could barely keep himself awake through all the white noise echoing inside his eardrums, his vision flooded with darkness as the storm thundered. Although his blood had already retracted and his aura flare died, he was still covered in plenty of his own blood. The rain and storm were washing away all the blood from his skin as the fight continues.

    Through his ruined vision, Carmine could see the man reel back his hand to hit the defenceless Dragon. The man forged his hand into a large blade before shaking violently and striking the weapon downwards. A loud, deafening blast made Carmine flinch and shut his eyes further through the execution. Although Carmine couldn’t hear clearly, he could definitely feel the vibrations of the roar following the initial sound. Another one identical to the first vibrated itself through the air, followed by yet another roar. Carmine could feel a heavy weight leave his body, and he attempted to open his eyes fully, but through the storm and wind it was very difficult.

    Another blurred figure made its way into Carmine’s vision, although he could still barely understand a sound through anything that was happening. Laughing as the figure spoke, whoever or whatever they might be neither here nor there to him, Carmine reached up with a hand and grabbed at the shoulder of the figure and smiled, shaking gently as he spoke what he saw.

“That was Subject-148 of the project Hade’s Gauntlet.”

   The figure looked visibly shaken, as if it had gasped at what Carmine said. The injured boy laughed once more and said one final thing before finally escaping into the darkness that is his subconscious.

“That’s what happens to them, Auburn.”

* * *

_"Carmi~ine! Carmine! C’mon, man! Don’t keep me waiting!”_

_Rolling his eyes at his friend’s insistent nature, Carmine closed the book he was currently reading and placed it within the bookshelf in his room. As there wasn’t enough room for him to own a desk to study at, he was sitting in his bed as Raven called for him._

_Unwillingly, Carmine grabbed his backpack and walked out of his room to meet with Raven, who was sleeping over the night with them in the spare room._

_Knocking three times on the door to the room, it flung open and Carmine was greeted with the young and friendly face of Raven Branwen, or as his family called her ‘Summer’. She appeared to be doing something with her scroll when she opened the door before looking up to smile at Carmine, whom bowed to greet her. “Evenin’, Ms Branwen.” Raven looked less than entertained._

_“There you are, bookworm! We gotta go, Qro- I mean Rav- Dust!” By the time she had almost uttered her brother’s name, Carmine was in stitches. Pouting, she knocked Carmine once on the head. Not hard enough to hurt, but enough to let him know she’s pissed. He nodded and motioned for her to continue. “Terribly sorry, Madam.”_

_Raven huffed at her friend’s antics. “Right, well Haw- **Summer** , wants to meet up soon for some hot cocoa at the cafe in the park. And she’s paying! And trust me, I don’t know about you, well actually I do know about you and how the cold doesn’t affect you and all, but if you didn’t know it’s pretty cold outside, okay?”_

_Carmine couldn’t help but smile as Raven spoke. Something about her choice of words always made him laugh. She held a hand in position as she waited for her friend’s response, but when none came she rolled her eyes and grabbed him by the wrist, leading him past the kitchen and out the front door. “What is with you today, C?” Releasing himself from his friend’s grip, Carmine opened the front door and escorted themselves off the premises. “I do apologize, Madam, for all my wrongs.”_

_Raven gave Carmine a look that said ‘what?’ before she spoke up. “What’s with you, why are you talking like royal Atlesians? You a snob now?” Carmine laughed at her response. “Just wanted to see how far I could fool you with a fake accent, is all.” Raven nodded as he spoke and patted him gently on the shoulder and leaning in to his ear to whisper. “You didn’t fool me, work on your acting.”_

_Carmine shoved her away and the two laughed at themselves. They walked a few steps down the road before Carmine turned to his friend with curiosity filled eyes. “Raven? Why don’t you ever get my name wrong?” The black-haired girl didn’t miss a step responding to him, laughing as she did so. “Do you wanna know why? Because...” Stopping and sharply turning to face Carmine, she held a hand out to stop him as he ran into it with his chest._

_The fierce red of Raven’s eyes always confused Carmine, as did his own strange eye colouring. But never before this moment had he been this close to Raven and gazing this deep into her eyes. They  were full of confidence and strength, and whatever it was it made Carmine feel brave. Brave enough to do the right thing. Despite this, she laughed once more before speaking further and walking on, now breaking eye contact._

_“...no matter what I do, I can’t ever forget about you Carmine Thorte.”_

* * *

   By the time Lilac and Bleu had managed to reach Auburn in the forest with reinforcements, the storm had calmed and the skies were red, the sun setting off into the distance for the night coming. They found her in the ruins with Carmine, although their blood bending friend was worse for wear. Auburn had positioned him to lay down within the ruins and used her coat as a blanket, leaving her shivering in the cold rain. Hawk lay down nearby behind Auburn, except he was awake and alert unlike Carmine.

    Bleu ran over to give her his own hoodie, which she graciously thanked him for, before hiding her face in his chest and hugging him. Although he felt slightly embarrassed, Bleu returned the hug to his small ginger friend.

    Ozpin had sent James Ironwood himself along with a small group of Atlesian soldiers to inspect what had happened at the barricade. Bleu and Lilac ran straight to Ozpin when Auburn called about the fight Carmine had. Ozpin urged her to not say anymore until the four of them can meet with Ozpin personally. When Ozpin made the command to send James with some soldiers Bleu and Lilac not only demanded they come along, but to bring Dr Azure and a medkit.

At the time, Ozpin only replied with “One step ahead of you.”

    Bleu, Lilac, and Auburn all walk through the halls of Beacon heading towards the medical bay. Bleu and Auburn walked alongside each other, just to make sure she knows he’s there for her. Earlier Auburn was slightly interrogated by Sarge and the teachers, including Ozpin himself, about what had happened within the forest. Naturally she was shaken up about everything, the reality of becoming a Huntress really weighing in on her.

    Her Faunus friend tapped her shoulder as they reached the medical bay, which she thanked him for as they entered. The first person they saw was Dr Azure, who hushed as they entered and pointed ahead. The three of them saw Carmine sitting up in the medical bed, his clothes lying on a chair across from him as he sat covered up by a robe. He was facing away from them, staring out the window into the sunset as the night takes over.

    Lilac was the first to break the silence, although awkwardly. “Soooooooo, who wants chocolates? Carmine, I know you like the ones with the little bits of cookie and jelly!” The entire time she spoke, Lilac flourished a shopping bag in various directions, attempting to gain her friends attention. Sadly, it fell on deaf ears. Carmine remained seated looking out the window, he seemed to be thinking deeply.

    His three friends gathered around the bed and sat down in the numerous chairs Dr Azure offered. Noticing the large number of chairs, Lilac turned to face Azure with a confusing look. “Why so many chairs? We’re not the first ones in here?” Azure turned sharply from her desk, but when she noticed Carmine wasn’t alerted by the sudden noise she calmed down slightly. “No, obviously. Your little ginger had to be interrogated and you two were with her.” Azure placed down the documents she was writing and walked over to stand next to Lilac in her seat, keeping eye contact with the doctor.

    “Team CFVY, Professor Ozpin, and a few other officials came before you.” Lilac wasn’t at all shocked to hear Team CFVY had come to visit, Coco adored talking to Carmine and Velvet liked him. Bleu was ready with the question they all had on their minds, although as Bleu spoke it was obvious from his voice that he was taking it hard. “So, how is he?”

    Azure hissed as she moved back to her desk with the documents she was working on earlier. “One puncture wound in the chest, very large and deep but his body is knitting it up for him so bonus for that, I guess. It takes time though, and it’s very draining on his stamina.” Azure tapped her pen against the desk as she looked through the document, humming a short tune as she did so. “One injury on his wrist, although it doesn’t look all that bad. My guessing is he had his chains protect him from that particular hit. Let’s see here...one fractured rib, one concussion, one fractured femur, and one bruised arm.”

    Azure looked back at Carmine’s form as it sat on the bed facing the night sky, shaking her head at the situation. “He’s a real gem, isn’t he?” She gestures to Carmine’s body with a stack of documents. The remainder of Team BLAC turned to her as she waved the papers in their direction. “He’s told he is incredibly strong and then goes and does something that could have _killed him_.” Lilac and Bleu did a double take on Azure, bewildered by her words. The purple haired girl stood up and took a few steps towards Azure.

    “Wait, are you saying this is all _Carmine’s_ fault?” Azure didn’t miss a beat when she replied to Lilac. Turning in her chair to face Lilac, she crosses her legs and looks up at her with no fear. “Yes. Carmine was told about how he’s a Dragon, one of only 5 discovered _alive_ , and he’s told he’s strong. What does he do? Challenge an enemy far superior to him without proper training.” Lilac was about to retort before Azure raised herself from the chair and into Lilac’s face, keeping her voice firm as she spoke.

    “Do you honestly believe that NSI wouldn’t be prepared for a fledgling Dragon ranked subject to escape? The things they send after Dragon’s have taken down the best ones I ever knew, even Roth Odinson had trouble with a small horde of them.” Lilac began stuttering as she backed away from the doctor. “B-but how would he have known NSI sent it after hi-“ Azure didn’t need to hear the rest. “The thing _literally_ had his powers! How could he have _not_ figured it came from them?!”

    Before another argument could be made, a loud roar thundered the office of the doctor. Loud, but not loud enough to break anything. Everyone’s eyes were on Carmine as he gave everyone in the room a hardened stare through his injured face. He took a single deep breath before exhaling and speaking, but only loud enough that Azure needed to strain to hear what he said.

    “Azure’s right. I chose to fight something I shouldn’t have.” His friends couldn’t help but frown at just how _dead_ Carmine’s voice sounded. It sounded defeated, like he just found out Santa doesn’t exist. “I should have retreated and helped Hawk get out. I know that now. I should have helped him...”

    He didn’t continue speaking until he raised his arm and willed his chains to come out and coil. “I need to learn, and get stronger. I don’t consider my chains as a free power up, I have to train to be worthy of them.” Retracting his blood back beneath his skin, Carmine moved himself so he was lying in the bed, his gaze never leaving the night sky as he spoke for the final time that night.

“Starting with Roth Odinson.”

* * *

“So, have you figured it out yet?”

Carmine jolted awake in a cold sweat. Frantically searching the room he was in for someone to have woken him, he found himself lying in his bed. Not his bed at Beacon, his bed at home in Lichtonne, Atlas.

Shaking his head and rubbing his eyes, Carmine confirmed he was actually inside his bedroom back in Lichtonne. Confused, Carmine cautiously exited his bed and slowly creeped over to the door of his room which, from memory, should take him into the kitchen. He slowly twists the doorknob and carefully looks into the next room, everything suddenly making sense when he saw who was in the kitchen.

Standing there, in red and black armour with a giant sword on her back, jet black hair flowing down her back, and wearing a “Kiss-The-Cook” apron, was Raven Branwen. She noticed he opened the door and motioned him over to her with her hands, smiling as she ran across the kitchen to various appliances. “Oh! Oh! Carmine, come here! I made something _awesome_.”

With a confused look, Carmine walked over to greet his old friend as she zipped across the room at record speeds, laying down two plates at the kitchen table. She sat on the seat next to Carmine’s, as he suddenly appeared in the seat without any movement of his own. Looking down at the plate, Carmine saw what appeared to be a giant grey blob.

Unbelieving of what he was offered, he looked to Raven for guidance on what it was, but saw her greedily eating up the grey blob without effort. With a shrug, Carmine downed the blob in one gulp. He could swear it tastes like...

“Black forest chocolate?”

Carmine jumped slightly at her guess, but nodded. Raven smiled as she boasted about her creation. “Yeah, it tastes like whatever your favourite snack is. Pretty great, huh?” She kept her smile frozen as she awaited Carmine’s reaction, and it was exactly as she imagined it would be.

“So, this is a dream? Your semblance still works after all these years?” Raven smiled as he spoke, happy that he’s learning. “Good to know you figured everything out, C.” Carmine laughed lightly as he ate more of the grey blob, which automatically regenerated itself as it was eaten. “Good to see you’re the same as ever, Summer.”

Raven smiled brighter at the mention of her nickname, but it slowly descended into a frown as she leaned back in the kitchen chair, clearly uncomfortable about the topic of conversation. She sighed once before looking Carmine straight in the eyes, who was still consuming the grey blob.

“We need to talk.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, to put it simply I am sorry for the delays. Things are happening in my life and it's kinda hard to focus on studying when shit hits. Lost a few friends a month or so ago, still aching about that. I will admit this chapter was slightly rushed but hey that's why I have my (+) tags.  
> Next chapter will be mostly filler, I won't lie. But hopefully good filler.  
> (+) I thought I would make something clearer here due to how weird this story is, but Raven Branwen has the nickname Summer for a few reasons. I cannot share them now or maybe even for a very long time, but one of them was to just make her a *little* bit cuter to the reader. Raven is portrayed very badly by the fandom despite all fuck all screen time she's had, so I wanted to portray her as cuter. Raven still plays her roles to the main story of RWBY, but this fic focuses on Raven and what she was doing while off screen.  
> Again, apologies for all the confusion.


	12. Quoth The Raven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Raven finally gives Carmine the information he's been craving, and an old friend shows up to cause some more chaos.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nevermore.

  Raven sits across the table from Carmine with her arms crossed and both legs up on the table, the apron she bore now gone from her armour in a puff of smoke as she waves a hand to her guest. “I told you I’d answer any and all questions you might have the next time we met, and that’s what we’re doing. Fire away, C.” So many questions plagued the curious Dragon’s mind, but one stuck out to him the most. “Why haven’t you bothered contacting me before now?”

  No hesitation. “Because I figured you’d be freaked out seeing your best friend a full grown woman with a kick ass body after being on ice for a solid two decades. I wanted you to get used to the fact that you weren’t in Atlas, and even more time to understand  _ why _ .” Although with a light blush, Carmine silently agreed with that reasoning. “Thankfully Ozpin did a good enough job of situating you while you slowly got used to everything. Could you imagine waking up to me and hearing ‘Hey look it’s me, your friend from two decades ago. Also, two decades have passed, wanna get out?’”

  While she finished her explanation Carmine was preparing another serving of the grey blob Raven had made before he entered the room. Returning to the table with a full plate he eagerly munched down on the delicious treat while he continued his line of questioning. “So, are you the mole in NSI?” Unlike the last question, this one seemed to stump the black-haired woman, raising her arms up and down as if she was a living scale, a look of contemplation on her face as if she was judging the right way to answer.

  
“Yes and no. There are two moles, I’m one of them but not directly recognized by the NSI as within their system, my friend, however, is currently posing as an NSI scientist.” She rests her arms back onto her chest and sighs with her eyes closed. “Hopefully she’s okay right now, it’d put a massive roadblock in front of us if she was captured.” Opening her eyes she removes her feet from the table and reaches across to grab a portion of Carmine’s blob, poking more questions from his curious mind, but before he could speak Raven was beating him to it as she bit into her blob. “And before you ask I can’t tell you who she is, C. Sorry.”

  While not entirely satisfied with the answer he reasoned that Raven must have had a reason for doing so, and moved on with the myriad of questions he held. “What else do you know about NSI? Do you have any idea about that thing that attacked me and Auburn in the forest?” 

  This seemed to pique Raven’s attention, stopping mid-bite and giving him a stare. “What ‘thing’, Carmine?”

“Subject 148 of my project attacked me when he was released fro-“

  A massive  _ slam  _ echoed throughout the room as Raven suddenly kicked her foot through the table with such force that it slammed into the ceiling and dropped back down.

  When the table dropped back down Carmine caught Raven’s eyes and noticed the pure  _ terror _ that filled them. She finally swallowed the blob inside her mouth and took a deep breath to calm herself. “You fought a fucking  _ Wyvern _ .” Standing up to her full height and walking across the room to the front door of the Thorte household, she motioned for her friend to follow as she left. Carmine did so silently.

  Lichtonne wasn’t exactly as Carmine remembered it, although it would be difficult to fully recreate an entire town from old Atlas. What he did recognize, was the park that he and Raven used to travel to their studies. It was snowing, as it always was, and the trees were shaking slightly as little flakes rained down all around the two. The ground was covered in a thin sheet of frost, while the path they walked was void of any snow or ice.

  Carmine wondered when Raven would choose to speak again, or if he was meant to press on further about the topic. But he knew his old friend well enough when she wants something or wants to say something she will, in her own time.

  Some time passed before they came across the familiar sight they knew all too well throughout their studying years, the bench they sat on and the café right across the road. Raven moved ahead and sat down on the bench with her head down, with Carmine following her lead and resting on the cold wood with her. A few minutes pass before either of them spoke, with Raven lifting her head to speak up.

  “First you have Initiate. They’re people who either volunteer for the project or were kidnapped for it.” She begins shifting her feet across the cold ground, removing layers of frost with each swipe, clearly uncomfortable about the current topic. “At this rank, nothing happens to them other than containment. Then comes the drugs, the modifications, and the experiments. This rank is generally called Experimental, but it has many names.”

  She turns her head up to the sky and takes a deep breath, with Carmine following her gaze he noticed the sky was pure white with no other colours. “If your body manages to pass that rank, they throw you into a fighting arena they call the Freakshow and take on other people who went through the modifications. This rank is called Gladiator. _ ”  _ She lowers her head to meet Carmine’s eyes as she spoke. “What you fought was a Wyvern, when and if a Gladiator shows enough promise to become a Dragon, all other Gladiators are pumped with enough drugs to make them mindless animals, and then put on ice.”

  “We don’t know why they need them, we don’t know where they keep the majority of them, and we have no idea how strong they can be. All I know is I’m glad you didn’t become one of those mindless beasts.” She slightly smiled at the mention of that, chuckling under her breath. “Who knew that Carmine Thorte was strong enough to become a Dragon?” Raven slumped back into the bench and gave Carmine a quizzical look. “How much do you remember? Do you remember the Freakshow?” The dragon shook his head. “Flashes, scenes, sometimes I hear voices, names. It’s all a massive mess inside my head.”

  A sympathetic hand rested on Carmine’s shoulder as he spoke, he felt the grip tighten as he continued. “I lost the fight to the Wyvern, Auburn had to scare it away after I damaged it. It managed to completely knock me down.” His face twisted in confusion. “Although, during the fight, something weird happened. You know what an aura flare is, right?” Raven nodded. “Yes, I’m doing it right now. That’s how this dream is lasting so long for us.”

  Carmine continued. “Whenever I flared my aura through my heart, my metal would grow uncontrollably, and I would lose all sense of control.” He lifted a hand to his face and flexed it, examining the veins lining his flesh as he did. “But when I fought the Wyvern I managed to control myself, I had metal growing at a much slower rate and could think and react during the fight. And I don’t understand why.”

  Raven nodded in understanding as he lowered his hand to his lap. “Dragon’s are capable of performing much more varying degrees of flares than the average Hunter’s can. Your aura limit is so much higher and intense that your flares can grow wild, I’ve seen it happen before. That’s why Wyverns are constantly enraged and insane, they’re forced to constantly flare to their maximum.”

  Silently he listened to her explanation, the cold wood of the bench disturbing him. This time Carmine stood up and chose to wander the dreamscape without Raven’s initiative, knowing the Huntress would follow suit. He felt the need to take time to process the information he was given, as it was vital knowledge for him to improve. Raven soon caught up with him as he stumbled across the dream version of Atlas Academy, although this time he kept walking, willing to test the limits of the dream. 

  “Alright, what about Roth Odinson? What’s he got to do with anything?” Raven smiled at the mention as if it was like remembering an old friend. “Roth Odinson is the Thunder Dragon, and also one of the oldest known Dragon’s to have escaped from NSI.”

This was a complete surprise.

  “If anyone can help teach you about NSI and how to control your Dragonic instincts and abilities, it’s him.” As Raven finished the thought the two were walking past a recreation of the Branwen estate, where Raven’s grandparents resided. “I knew his master, he was a close friend of mine. I have it on good authority that Roth is the right man to train you into what you want to become.” Her step faltered slightly as another thought entered her head.

“He could also tell you more about Vermillion than I can.”

  This made Carmine perk up in attention. “Vermillion? Is that the guy you told me to never fight?” She nodded calmly, her voice trying to keep the same tone. “Yes, and I mean that, Carmine. If you ever find him,  _ run. _ ” That wasn’t enough for the young Hunter. “But who  _ is _ Vermillion? Why do I have to-“

  “All I know about Vermillion is that every time he’s sent after a Dragon, he always either returns with their body or their  _ corpse _ .” Stopping herself outside the gates to the estate she lived within during her time in Atlas, she turned to her old friend and held him by the shoulders, being a good two heads taller than the student. “Vermillion is called the Dragon Slayer, no one knows much about him because he does his job so well that they don’t  _ need _ to. All they know is that no matter how powerful the Dragon may be, Vermillion almost always gets them.”

Carmine raised an eyebrow. “Almost?”

  Raven released her grip and continued walking, Carmine needing to catch up to hear her words. “Roth is the only known Dragon to have fought Vermillion,  _ multiple times _ , and successfully evaded him without much damage. If anyone knows how to improve you and make you stronger, Roth is the only option you have.”

  The walk took them beyond the Atlesian border, giant walls of ice surround them as they walk through what was once an entire ocean. Despite all the information Carmine could want, despite all he has received, one thing sticks in his mind that he needs to know. “Where are my parents?”

  Raven hesitated in her step but managed to continue. “Lichtonne is destroyed, Carmine. Your father died six years ago, and your mother is currently in Atlas Memorial Hospital dying of the Frostbourne, and slowly losing her mind.” This caused Carmine to fault in his step a little. “How did dad die?” Raven shook her head, the edge of the frozen ocean finally coming into view. “I don’t know, your mother didn’t take it too well I’m afraid.” She turned to face her friend, standing on the edge of the frozen waters noticing his sad expression at the news.

  “You should visit sometime, I think she’d like to see you.” A smile crept onto his face at that thought, but he still had one question. It burned him from the inside like an infestation, like a plague that was spreading, aching for a cure. With a big grin, Carmine calmly asked his friend the question he’s had since this talk began.  
“Why aren’t you screwing up anyone’s names?”

  The black haired beauty placed a hand to her forehead and laughed. “It’s a dream, doofus. I can do whatever I want.” And with that, she forcefully punched her hand straight into Carmine’s chest, knocking him back a few meters and slamming into the deep waters below the ice. As he floated down into the dark waters the shape of her figure blurred into view above him. “We’ll talk again soon.”

 

* * *

 

  With a worried filled heart and the sound of her friends snoring from across the room, Lilac decides it’s best to get up out of bed and go for a walk through Beacon’s corridors. Carmine still remained in the medical ward for another night and Auburn and Bleu had managed to pass out in the middle of homework writing. Although she was amused by her friend's antics, she still couldn’t get to sleep with the thoughts racing through her head.

  Locking the door behind her as she continued through the building, she remembered the set of stairs that lead to the rooftops of the school and decided some fresh cold fresh air was in order. When she reached the top of the stairs and opened the door, a cool breeze and a familiar shape greeted her. She instantly recognized the red jacket and jeans as Carmine turned around to face her, clearly surprised at the intrusion, and also showing his bare chest covered in bandages.

  “Oh, hey Lilac. Didn’t expect anyone up- OOF!” Before he could finish his thought, Lilac was already sprinting towards him and embracing him in a tight hug, which he was desperate to escape from. “Ouch! Easy, I just got impaled recently!” Suddenly remembering her friends condition she quickly removes herself with a slight tinge of pink on her cheeks, sheepishly looking at her feet. “Sorry, I’m just- You were- You- ”

  Cutting her off, Carmine reaches forward with a single arm and gently hugs his friend with a pat on the back, which she returns. “Yeah, I know. It’s good to see you.” He let’s go of her and returns to leaning against the railings of the roof, Lilac only now noticing that he held a smoking stick in his fingers. “Do you...?” He shook his head. “Don’t worry, it’s not the stuff that kills you. It’s Malchun root. You can brew it into a tea to calm your nerves or smoke it, I just couldn’t find a kettle or anything.”

  She joins her broken friend leaning on the railings and takes a nice, deep breath of the cold mountain air that surrounded Beacon during the nights. Carmine chuckles. “Refreshing, isn’t it?” He takes a deep breath before taking a puff of his root. “I used to love Atlesian nights. Cold enough to burn your bones through your flesh, a great way to wake up your senses during a chilly morning on the way to school.” Lilac nodded, understanding the feeling, despite only Vacuon nights being nowhere near as cold as Atlesian ones.

  “I had a chat with an old friend, tonight. She told me everything I needed to know.” This got Lilac’s attention. “Roth Odinson is a Dragon, like me.” Lilac gasped at the revelation, both curious and confused. “Wait, who told you that? When did you speak to them, you were only in bed for a few hours!” Carmine cracked a grin, amused by her curiosity. “Yep. Anyway, Roth is the Thunder Dragon, and he’s supposedly one of the oldest of us. He’s been on the run for a while, but he can give me clues about NSI, and especially about Vermillion.”

  Once again, interest piqued. “Vermillion? Is that the name from the recording?” A nod and a final puff on the root was the response, tossing it off the roof. “Yep, he’s called the Dragon Slayer, his job is to track escapees. At any cost.” He twisted his body so that his back was now leaning against the railings, still facing Lilac. “He’s apparently so strong that no Dragon that’s fought him is capable of stopping him, except for Roth himself.”

  “So we’re going to find him?” A shake of the head from the blood bender. “First we’re doing training, school work, and any secret operations Ozpin has for us. Then I’m teaching you guys how to flare your aura. We’re going to make sure we’re all good and strong. And  _ then _ we find Roth, it’ll be easier if we don’t have to rely on Ozpin holding our hands the entire way.” A solid plan, Lilac reasoned. “What happens when you find Roth, Car?” Carmine chuckled.

“I’m going to become strong enough to destroy NSI once and for all.”

  Lilac heard nothing but pure determination in his voice when he declared that, he fully meant what he said. “When and if my friend finds the rest of the Dragons and releases them, we’re going to find them and help each other out. We’re going to stop NSI’s plan of raising their own personal army by raising  _ our  _ own personal army and destroying them with the weapons  _ they _ created.” 

A hand landed on Carmine’s and squeezed gently. “You’re not a weapon, you’re a Hunter.”

  Pulling his hand away, Carmine begins calmly walking towards the door that leads to the rooftops. Before opening the door, he turns to his friend with a smile. “I can be both, Lilac.” And with that, he leaves the musician alone with her thoughts on the matter, who simply sighs and shakes her head with a faint smile, staring off into the night sky straight at Remnants broken moon.

“What are you going to become, Thorte?”

 

* * *

 

  The afternoon sun pelted down on the docks of Vale, not particularly hot but bright enough to cause locals to wince whenever they looked up at the cloudless sky. Businesses were bustling as it was the weekend, and naturally, all the students needed a well-deserved break from their studies. Despite it being only the first week, the intense feeling of their workload the classes gave them exhausted them to no ends.

  Sitting outside a small café located nearby the docks of Vale and enjoying a small cup of coffee, Carmine was busy thumbing through pages on his scroll as Team CFVY and Team BLAC enjoyed their sunny afternoon together. Lilac and Fox had brought their instruments once again and were sitting on the ground with their backs resting on a bricked garden, Auburn was currently chatting with Velvet about the story of her and Carmine in the forest, Bleu and Yatsuhashi were discussing the pros and cons of certain weapon types and where improvements could be made, while Coco was sitting on a table over from Auburn and Velvet to listen in on the conversation.

  ”...and then while Carmine was knocked down, I managed to nail a few shots into it and make it run away. When I went over to check on him, he was talking nonsense before he just passed out in front of me.” Auburn had Velvet’s complete undivided attention as she continued to tell the Faunus how they managed to extract her and Carmine safely, however, Coco seemed satisfied with the information she managed to get and rested her hand on her chin and looked over to Carmine, still distracted by his scroll.

  “If I didn’t know any better Thorte, I’d say that was an aura flare you did when fighting that thing?” Absentmindedly Carmine nodded, still staring at his scroll. On screen, he was searching for any reference of aura flaring books, as he only learnt it second handed and required formal teaching material. Unfortunately, most of the texts are outdated from decades ago, and no teachers were permitted to instruct it.

  “It’s impressive that a first-year student like you is capable of such a show of strength, normally it would take the aura level of a third-year student to even sustain such a technique.” Coco gently stirred the coffee in front of her, curiosity bursting from within but keeping face as best she can. “So how bad were your injuries? How are you holding up? Do you need new clothes?”

  Carmine mumbles incoherently, still thumbing through his scroll and keeping his attention completely away from the current conversation. Annoyed, Coco reaches forward and snatches his scroll from his hands. “Oi! Give it!” Smiling as she held the offending item outside of Carmine’s reaching distance, she began reading what was currently on screen. “Aura flaring texts? I thought you-“

  Managing to get up and snatch his scroll back before sitting back down, Carmine finishes her thought. “Yes, I can do it. But I only understand how to initiate it, not control it. I need to learn more before attempting to use it again. It’s too...” Flashes of a blood-soaked barricade and corpses of scientists filled his sight, the smell of blood tinged his nose, the face of the roaring Wyvern assaulted his eardrums. With a sharp breath, he comes back to reality. ”...It’s too dangerous for me to use it right now.”

  Howls of laughter came from Bleu and Yatsu on their table as Velvet and Auburn reached the table Coco and Carmine were sitting at, with the ginger sniper interjecting. “You seemed to manage it well enough in the forest, even if you couldn’t beat the Wyvern you still did a great job.” The odd-eyed teen shook his head angrily, keeping his eyes on the scroll in front of him. “No, it wasn’t good enough. I couldn’t beat it, and I couldn’t control the flare. That time was a complete fluke, I just happened to use a lucky amount of aura and not completely lose my mind.”

  Velvet sat next to Carmine when she arrived at the table in the middle of him talking and managed to lift up his shirt to see his bandages, which he ignored and allowed her to do. The bandages had zero traces of blood in them but dark colours were clearly visible underneath, especially on his stomach. “How bad are your injuries?” Looking down at his torso he attempted to remove the bandages, struggling until he shaped a sharp blade with his metal and cut through the bandages.

  Underneath was what appeared to be a massive hole in his stomach, completely knitted up and covered in his chain linked metal. Every puncture in his body had a similar metal covering over them. Velvet looked shocked enough to nearly faint, Auburn seemed amazed, and Coco seemed interested in something else entirely. “That metal helps your body heal? You were  _ impaled _ , honey.” Carmine shrugged and sipped his coffee. “I’m not telling it to do that. I think it’s acting like antibodies, like white blood cells attacking an infection. Just protecting the host, I think.”

  “It’s  _ protecting _ you?” A shrug. “Dunno, but I honestly feel fine right now.” In a near instant, Auburn had moved over to the other side of the table and began poking and prodding at the offending metal, whispering to herself about how ‘awesome’ it was. Coco shook her head and waved a hand, still questioning what she was hearing. “Wait, you  _ tell  _ it to do things? What do you mean, is it alive?”

  He swats away Auburn’s hand before answering, leaving the ginger to frown. “It’s like another muscle. It just feels like if you moved a finger, or flexed a toe. But I’m not consciously making it stitch me up, but I assume it’s for the best. I avoided most damage that thing did to me by reinforcing my arms with the metal, and when I did that it didn’t seem to be able to pierce it.”

  “Makes sense, it  _ did _ have your powers after all. By the way, care to explain that?” Coco looked to the blood bender accusingly, a hand tapping on the table in waiting. Carmine and Auburn looked to each other for confirmation, an action not lost on the couple in front of them, and shook their heads. “Sorry, we shouldn’t say, at least not yet Coco.” After looking annoyed for a few seconds, Coco simply gave up. “Very well, you can have a few secrets I  _ guess _ .”

  Carmine laughed lightly. “You say that as if you’re giving us permission.” The fashionista smiled mischievously. “Of course I am, after all, I’m the boss around here, aren’t I?” The group share a laugh as Bleu and Yatsu began yelling in a heated argument about whether or not throwable weapons were a sustainable method of fighting.

  As the group began their trek back through the town, the sun was beginning to descend out of view behind the massive mountain that houses Beacon itself. Team CFVY gave their goodbyes as they walked back to their flat and left Team BLAC on their way. They were abuzz with chatter about various topics such as weaponry and possible changes to their wardrobes on their way to the local ValeMart to pick up ‘brain food’ as Bleu referred to it, after spending all of last night energy starved.

  The team spent roughly an hour and a half arguing over what they could buy, with Lilac wanting to get more healthy options and Auburn desiring the sugar isle for sweets and energetic food. They all agreed that despite Carmine and Auburn having vast amounts of Lien, Lilac is enforcing a budget on their spending habits, against Bleu’s wishes.

“But Lila-a-c~, the Suger Dust Bombs are 25% off!”

  “Bleu already picked out a few packets of salted caramels, Burnie. You don’t need any more sugar than what we’ve got.” Auburn huffed in defiance and stomped away towards the drinks aisle where Carmine was trying to pick out a good deal on red dust flavoured drinks, leaving Bleu and Lilac to push the shopping cart as they slowly wandered through the isles.

  “Yo, Lilac?” As she was picking out a box of Pumpkin Pete’s, Bleu suddenly broke the silence between them. “I’ve been thinking, if Carmine was so powerful, wouldn’t they have a fail-safe? In case someone like him escaped?” Lilac nodded as she plucked a packet of mints from the shelf. “Mhm, that’s Vermillion. He’s the guy mentioned in that recording we found, they call him the Dragon Slayer.”

  Bleu seemed surprised, but Lilac beat him to the question. “Carmine told me he met with someone and told him everything, he has a plan ready.” Still confused, Bleu pushed the matter. “Met with who? Who on Remnant knows about this stuff that Carmine can trust?” Lilac shrugged. “You have to remember, Carmine is over 38 years old. He probably has a lot of friends around that he just didn’t get to see grow up with him. Maybe he found one.” A scoff of frustration from Bleu ended the conversation as Carmine and Auburn wandered back to meet them, Auburn holding maybe one or two items while Carmine had entire tentacles of metal full of products.

  As the team were getting closer to the transport hub, and the sun was already setting with darkened skies, more questions buzzed from the small ginger at their resident mystery man. “So this ‘Vermillion’ guy, where is he now? Will he come after us soon? Will we have to fight him?” The entire team had their arms full of plastic bags, except for their blood bender who had a chain hanging from his back holding many bags to himself. Carmine needed a moment to contemplate Auburn’s question, as he didn’t know the answer himself.

  Bleu interjected before he could respond. “Even if this big bad killer guy comes after us, he’ll have to take on  _ all _ of Team BLAC, not just Carmine.” A murmur of agreement echoed through the team members, the exception being with Carmine, who shook his head. “No, this is my fight. I’m not endangering yo-“

  A plastic bag full of tin cans suddenly collided with the back of Carmine’s head before he could finish, the proud wolf Faunus sporting an annoyed look. “Fuck. That. We’re your teammates, and you’re our friend. We’re fighting your fights as much as you would fight ours.” After composing himself from the hit, Carmine smiled faintly at his friend's loyalty. “Tha-“

_ Crack!  _

  As they were nearing the entrance to the transport hub to get back to their dorms a sudden,  _ loud _ crunch echoed from behind them in the pavement. Bleu was able to turn and react far quicker than the others, with Lilac following suit and spotting what the cause of the disturbance was. But by the time Carmine had turned to see the threat, it was already barrelling into him at top speed and knocking him into a nearby tree.

The ginger recognized the sight, It was the Wyvern that attacked them in the forest.

  When it pinned Carmine to the tree with a solid grip, it threw it’s head back and  _ roared  _ into his face, spraying spit and other fluids all over the Dragon. This gave Carmine enough time to process what just happened and react, dropping the bags he held and using the chain to wrap around his hand and grip the Wyvern by the throat, choking and tossing it as far back away from him as possible onto the pavement where it skidded along the ground.

  Bleu was already dropping his bags to grab the handles of Walkabout, as was Auburn to Huckleberry, and Lilac to Crossfade. As the team began preparing to open fire, Carmine leapt past his friends and  _ slammed _ a fist straight into the beast's chest as it was attempting to stand up, sending it flying back hard enough to smash into a parked car and flip it over. Pounding his chest like an animal, Carmine’s metal began forming around his arms, a look of pure  _ hatred _ on his face as he roared at the creature before him.

_ “ ** I’m prepared this time, you fucking mindless animal!” ** _

**** Lilac jumped to his side and began dancing her fingers on her guitar, spraying dust rounds at the downed Wyvern trying to get back on its feet. Huckleberry’s rounds began cracking off behind their heads as Auburn sniped at the limbs of the offending monster, with a spray of hellfire blasting from Bleu’s shotguns providing support.

  Carmine used the time his friends were giving him to build up as much strength and pressure inside his metal as he could, before the beast managed to compose itself and attack once again, leaping at least a couple stories high into the air, it shrieked as it aimed down for Carmine once again. “BLOOD DRAGON! BLOOD DRAGON!”

**_ “I’ll give you a fucking Blood Dragon!”_**

 ** _  
_**     Continuing to lay down fire until the Wyvern made contact gave Carmine the cover he needed to form a razor sharp blade along his forearm and leap towards the beast, meeting him mid-air and slashing across its torso like a hot knife through butter. It fell to the ground with a wet  _ slap _ , lifting its head momentarily only to have Bleu aim one of his shotguns straight into its head and unload as many rounds as he could before it stood back up in panic.

  Clearly damaged and bleeding profusely, especially from it’s face where nothing but a hole for it’s mouth remained, it began screaming uncontrollably as it wildly lashed out to whoever or whatever was closest for it to connect a hit with, only for a metallic fist to smash into the back of its skull with such great force that it was slammed into the side of the transport hubs walls.

  The team cornered the beast as it moaned and shrieked at them, attempting to hide away from it’s attackers in the bushes. The three gun wielders all aimed their weapons at the beast and began pumping the remaining ammunition into it, visibly shredding, burning, and freezing separate parts of the monster's body. All the while, it continued to scream, loud enough that it woke people in the buildings as far as four blocks away.

“BLOOD DRAGON! BLOOD DRAGON! BLOO-“

  With a massive blade forged from the metal within his veins, Carmine stabbed the Wyvern through the skull and split it perfectly in two pieces. Finally, the creature was silenced.

  The entire team was left exhausted, slumping down to sit on the grass beneath as their dragonic friend pulled the blade from the corpse and reformed it into his bloodstream. After many deep breaths, Bleu spoke up with a tired laugh.  
“That _ huff _ wasn’t so  _ huff _ bad!” Lilac sighed and struggled to maintain her energy as she spoke. “They don’t normally send only one, Bleu. They send groups of those things.” The Faunus tiredly looked to the dead body of the Wyvern they just have slain, to Carmine who was lying in the grass covered in blood, and back to Lilac. “And it was also still damaged from its previous fight with Carmine.”

“Well  _ huff _ shit.”

 

* * *

 

  “So, let me get this straight. You caused over 87,000L in public damage cost because the Wyvern ambushed you and attacked?” Team BLAC were currently in Ozpin’s office, with all their plastic shopping bags left on the floor as Dr Azure tended to any wounds the team might have suffered at the time. Although Lilac nodded at the question, Bleu seemed visibly annoyed. “Did you forget about my salted caramels!? Screw the public damages, I lost 14L on those sweets! I  _ earned  _ that 14L!”

  Ozpin shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose, speaking nasally as he did. “Carmine, why did you have to throw it into a car  _ and  _ a building?”

  Carmine was currently having his bare chest inspected while silently chewing on a piece of jerky he grabbed from the shopping bags. “It was either ‘Throw it off my face’ or ‘Let it maul me to death’.” Ozpin grumbled under his breath and lowered his hand with a sigh. “In any case, you  _ did _ do very well exterminating the beast. I’ll have its body stored here for examination while Team BLAC conducts a mission for me.”

  Auburn slowly raises her hand as Carmine places his shirt and jacket back on, with Azure moving to be by Ozpin’s side. “Um, Professor Ozpin? Can the debriefing wait until tomorrow? I’m kind of tired and I-“

  “I’m terribly sorry Ms Rays, but the mission must be conducted tonight without any delay.” The ginger sadly lowered her hand and unwrapped a salted caramel. As Bleu began wrestling Auburn for the sweet, Ozpin turned to Lilac and Carmine. “Your mission tonight is to infiltrate a private party being held within a bar known as ‘The Crooked Mile’. It is suspected that not only will elite members of Vale’s social groups be there, including a representative of the S.D.C itself, but many members of Nova Science will also be attending.”

  Ozpin reached over the table and handed Carmine two tickets that read  _ ‘Permit 1: The Crooked Mile, 1am - 7am’ _ each. “We have it on good knowledge from our mole that NSI is looking for investors due to the collateral damage  _ you  _ caused, which I must add I congratulate you for doing.” A small smile was brought to the team's faces for that remark, but Ozpin continued.

  “Two of you will be attending the party physically while the other two will be gathering information and monitoring persons of interest. I highly recommend Bleu and Carmine to be physically there, whilst Auburn and Lilac monitor from safe distances.” Handing over a map across the desk, clearly showing the two-story tall establishment from a bird's eye view, with overlays of both floors and surrounding buildings.

  “Lilac is to be positioned anywhere she is able to use her semblance effectively, Auburn we have chosen a spot for you to remain and keep an eye on the party from a distance, even gaining sight on the balcony, marked on the map here.” Azure was busy pulling various items from underneath Ozpin’s desk as he explained the map and walked over to the team with a large cardboard box.

  “Inside this box is various devices we imagine would come in handy. Radios, earpieces, recording glasses-“

** “ _ WE’RE GUNNA BE SPIES!”  _ **

  Auburn and Bleu high-fived each other as they proudly shouted in unison and did a little dance on the spot. Lilac smiled weakly and Carmine rolled his eyes, directing his attention back to the headmaster. “How will we know if any member of NSI will be attending? How will we find them?”

  “Oh do not worry about that, our mole made it crystalline clear that there are various members there, and as for finding them, expect a lot of drunk talking about a big scary blood dragon rampaging out of the facility.” Although upset by the reminder, Carmine understood.  
“In any event, do _not_ expect this level of preparation for future missions I may have planned for you, it was such short notice that I was hardly able to obtain the items I believed would be helpful.”

As the team picked up the box and the map provided, Ozpin spoke up once again.

  “Also, don’t expect to be excused from early morning classes!”

An audible group groan echoed within the office.

 

* * *

“Are you sure I look okay?”

  
_ “Trust me, Carmine. You look fine.” _

 

“Are you sure? I think my hair could have been done better, and this suit feels too tight.”

 

 _ “Coco helped design the clothes your wearing, maybe it’s  _ meant  _ to be tight?” _

 

“Well, maybe I don’t  _ want _ it to be tight?”

  
“ ** _Could you ladies stop bickering? It’s flooding the comms. _ ** _ ” _

  Carmine rolled his eyes as he silently offered his admission ticket to the bouncer standing outside the front of The Crooked Mile. Bleu was following behind at least four other people, in order to avoid suspicion, in his words. During the night time, the bar was exclusively light by neon lights covering the edges of almost every surface, with tables glowing in the dark brightly light colours such as green and purple. The stairs leading to the second floor glowed a bright orange in the middle of the floor as people swarmed every available seat and table. 

  Many people dressed very neatly as Carmine and Bleu were, surrounding tables full of very attractive women and plenty of drinks surrounding their tables. While at other tables and couches sat very casually dressed people with  _ hundreds  _ of empty drinks and smoke heavily filling the air around them. A few people stumbled around Carmine as he made his way up the spiral stairs in the centre of the room, noticing that Bleu would remain downstairs and scout for information, and maybe some free drinks while he was at it.

  As Carmine made his way up the stairs his earpiece crackled to life and a bubbly voice echoed on the other end.  _ “H-hey Carmine! It’s really windy up here, but I can see you entering the second floor from all the way up here!”  _ He nodded, purposely avoiding speaking aloud unless needed. Auburn clearly caught the message.  _ “Okay, I’ll keep an eye on you! Have fun at the party, wear protection, and don’t leave your drink unattended!” _ Carmine snickered at her remarks visibly, causing a giggle to come from the earpiece before it shut off once more.

  Seeing the second floor was no different from the first, neon light the way everywhere, people were seated at various tables and lounges with drinks and other substances in hand, and the general vibe of the party felt like everyone was just trying to let of some steam for the weekend. Carmine understood why NSI would choose to come here to seek investors, they might be lucky enough to stumble across a completely intoxicated rich guy and have him practically throw money at them. 

  Reaching the balcony he attempted to find an empty seat somewhere nearby some important looking businessmen, or anyone looking suspicious in order to eavesdrop on their conversation without seeming too out of place. While scanning the area his eyes met another pair of eyes on a table in the far corner. 

  They looked into each other's eyes for a few seconds, and at first they were green  _ and  _ pink, and then with a blink they become pink and blue, and with a third blink, they changed back to green and pink. Partially mesmerised by the sight, and partially confused he shook his head roughly and looked back at the owner of the eyes. She wore an all-black dress, with brown hair tied up into twin tails with black ribbons, and a low cut top with a pink scarf wrapped around her neck.

  The mysterious woman winked at him, which changed her eye colour once again, before blinking and returning them to normal.

Carmine, feeling as if he needed to, walked up to the table the strange woman was and took a seat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, it's been a while, hasn't it?  
> First of all I am so sorry for the delay, there's a reason behind it although it might not be good enough.  
> To put it simply I wrote 14 thousand words for the story and then Word crashed on me and deleted it, which took me roughly a week to write.  
> Ever since I felt so put off by the thought of writing that only now did I feel comfortable doing so.  
> I will try and keep this frequently updated to the best of my ability and try and avoid roadblocks like that.  
> To keep up with any updates related to why I can't write or just life in general, I have a twitter @OfficialCH97.  
> Thanks for any support and huge thanks to anyone still reading!


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